Only 1,362 cases of shrill honking in Bengaluru; just the tip of iceberg say activists

In a city like Bengaluru with over a crore vehicles, registering only 1,362 cases of shrill honking only shows the triviality of traffic police in registering shrill honking cases.

Between January and December 2022, only 1,362 cases of shrill honking were registered at various police stations across Bengaluru.

In Bengaluru, maximum shrill honking cases were registered in areas like Yeshwanthpur, Electronics City, Rajajinagar, Pulikeshinagar  and Shivajinagar.

Over 7.9 lakh vehicles across Karnataka that were checked for shrill honking, only 16,107 cases of shrill honking were registered between April 2022 and January 2023.

“Cases against just 16,000 vehicles over a year is a very small number looking at the total number of vehicles in Karnataka. This is the tip of the iceberg and appears like a formality being done by the RTOs. Rather than registering cases against a handful of vehicles, it would be better to state that no cases were registered against loud, shrill, and multitone horns and unnecessary and repeated honking. Taking the issue so lightly will have zero impact,” quoted Bangalore Mirror as told by an anti-noise pollution activist in the city.

According to Indian Motor Vehicles Act of 1988, motor vehicles that alter the horns originally installed by the manufacturer have to be punished. The law also has provisions to penalise ‘needless honking’ with a fine of Rs 1,000 and for similar subsequent offense with a fine of Rs 2,000.