You won't see red beacon on VIP cars from today
May 01, 2017  08:47
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The Union Cabinet's decision to end the culture of flashing red beacons, comes into effect from today. 

The Union Cabinet's decision covers all government vehicles, including those ferrying the prime minister, chief ministers, central and state ministers and judges of the Supreme Court and high courts. 

The government has also decided to make amendments to the rule governing the use of blue beacons -- these can only be used by vehicles such as ambulances, fire tenders and police cars in cases of emergency -- which will be notified soon. 

Even before the Centre's decision, there have been several state governments that have sought to do away with the red beacon. 

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was one of the first to announce that neither he nor his team would use cars with flashing lights. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath issued similar orders after getting elected. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, too, travels without this mark of power.  

The decision to ban red beacons comes more than three years after the Supreme Court first raised the issue and asked for restrictions on their use in December 2013. 

On December 10 that year, a bench led by Justice G S Singhvi ruled that vehicles fitted with the red beacon would be allowed only for "high dignitaries", and directed the government to amend the Motor Vehicles Act to ensure that fines for violations were sufficiently large, so as to encourage deterrence. 

The court had then asked all authorities to enforce these directions within a month.
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