A Workshop Asked to Fit a Musical Horn, Dark Film, Extra Seats and Remove the DPF
The owner of a 2016 BS-IV diesel pickup (registered gross vehicle weight 3,490 kg, private registration but used to carry goods) brings it to your workshop before a family function. He wants: a multi-tone musical air horn in addition to the existing horn; 60% dark film on the windscreen and 70% on the front side windows; a wooden bench in the load body to seat six people; an LED light bar on the roof; and removal of the catalytic converter and diesel particulate filter "because the vehicle feels sluggish". The certificate of fitness expired four months ago and the PUC certificate five months ago. The registration certificate shows a seating capacity of two. He offers extra cash to "adjust the papers" and says every workshop in town does this.
1. For each of the five requested items, state whether the workshop can do it, the rule area involved, and the technical alternative you would offer.
Read the worked answer
1. Multi-tone musical air horn - refuse. The Motor Vehicles Rules (horn provisions of the CMVR) permit an electric horn of an approved type and sound level; multi-toned horns giving a succession of different sounds are prohibited because they confuse other road users. Offer to fit a standard approved horn and to repair the existing one if it is weak.
2. Dark film at 60% on the windscreen and 70% on the front side windows - refuse. CMVR Rule 100 on safety glass sets minimum visible light transmission: about 70% for the windscreen and rear window and 50% for side windows. Both requested films fail, and the windscreen figure is the more serious because it affects night and rain visibility.
3. Bench for six in the load body - refuse. The seating capacity of two is a recorded parameter on the registration certificate. Adding seats changes a registered particular and is an alteration of the vehicle; carrying passengers in a goods body is separately an offence and is dangerous, since the body has no restraints or crash structure.
4. Roof LED light bar - refuse for road use. Additional lamps beyond the permitted lighting are not allowed on a road-going vehicle and dazzle other drivers. If the owner genuinely needs work lighting, it must be a demountable lamp used off-road only, and he must understand it cannot be left fitted on the road.
5. Removing the catalytic converter and DPF - refuse. Removing emission-control devices makes the vehicle non-compliant with emission standards and it will fail the PUC test. Instead, diagnose the sluggishness properly: clogged air filter, a loaded DPF from short-trip use, EGR or turbo faults, injector condition, fuel filter restriction. That diagnosis is legitimate work and may solve his real complaint.
2. What is your position on the expired fitness certificate, the expired PUC and the cash offer? Explain the workshop's exposure, not just the owner's.
Read the worked answer
Expired fitness (Section 56 of the Motor Vehicles Act): a transport-type vehicle needs a current certificate of fitness, renewed after inspection at the RTO or an authorised testing station. The workshop cannot renew it and must not issue or alter any document suggesting it is valid. The correct action is to complete genuine repairs and send the vehicle for inspection.
Expired PUC (Section 190(2)): driving without a valid pollution certificate attracts a substantial penalty - ₹10,000 under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019 - and the vehicle should be tested only after any emission-related faults are repaired.
The cash offer: decline and record the refusal on the job card, with the date and what was asked. Accepting would amount to forgery or abetment, and would expose the workshop to prosecution, loss of trade licence and civil liability.
Why the workshop is exposed, not just the owner:
- Carrying out an unauthorised alteration brings the vehicle under the alteration provisions (Section 52), and an altered vehicle's registration can be cancelled; the workshop that performed the work is easily traced from the job card.
- If the vehicle is later in a crash with six people in the load body, or is stopped with a removed DPF, the workshop's invoice becomes evidence that it knowingly created the unsafe condition.
- Insurance cover can be voided by unauthorised alteration, so the owner may sue the workshop for losses.
Practical response: give the owner a written quotation for the legal work and a written note of what was refused and why. Being the workshop that says no, in writing, is protection.
3. The owner drops the LED bar request but says "just repair the vehicle as it is" - it already has a loud horn, tinted glass and a missing DPF. How do you handle the repair, and what do you tell him about using it on the road?
Read the worked answer
You may repair the vehicle, but you must not perpetuate or extend the non-compliance.
What I would do:
- Accept the mechanical repair work he actually needs (starting, brakes, suspension, servicing) and invoice it normally.
- On the job card, list the non-compliances found on arrival - non-standard horn, glazing below the permitted visible light transmission, missing emission-control device, expired fitness and PUC - with photographs, and mark them "not rectified at customer's instruction".
- Not reconnect, re-fit or improve any illegal item. If a repair touches the tinted glass (for example, a windscreen chip repair or replacement), fit compliant glass.
- Offer a priced option to restore compliance: approved horn, removal of film, refitting a catalytic converter and DPF, and help with booking the fitness and PUC tests.
What I would tell him plainly: the responsibility for using a non-compliant vehicle on a public road rests with the owner and driver, but a workshop that knowingly returns such a vehicle without a written record and a compliance option is exposed in any subsequent inquiry. He also risks failing PUC, having the vehicle detained, and having an insurance claim rejected after a crash - a missing DPF and non-standard horn are visible, recordable facts.
Tone: factual, not moralising. Most owners accept the position when the cost of restoration and a booking for the fitness test are put in front of them in writing.