To stop car thefts, govt has approved a new technology that will make it almost impossible to make vehicles untraceable.
Soon, it would become almost impossible for car thieves to dispose off the stolen car even after dismantling. According to a ToI report, to stop car thefts, the government has approved a new technology called — Microdots — that will make it almost impossible for lifter to remove the dots and make vehicles untraceable.
Microdots is a technology by which thousands of micro dots are sprayed over the body of vehicle. These small laser-etched dots contain nano-size (0.5 mm) particles that carry information like unique number and vehicle identification number.
The dots can be seen by using ultraviolet light and since the dots are sprayed throughout the vehicle body, it becomes easy to trace the vehicle as even a small part of the dismantled car can be used to trace the stolen vehicle. Even if the car has been dismantled completely the identity of the vehicle and the owner can be traced by scanning a small part of the vehicle.
The technology is widely used in several counties including South Africa and the US. South Africa has even made it mandatory to have microdot fitted to all new vehicles sold since September 2012.
As per ToI report, India highest automobile technical standard making body, CMVR-TSC has finalised the standard in its meeting last month and soon a notification will be issued to roll-out this technology in India. The government plans to roll out the technology as an optional system initially and the price of this feature is likely to be around Rs 1,000.
Four-wheeler vehicles like car, truck or bus would require at least 10,000 microdots, while at least 5,000 such dots would be needed for two-wheeler. The manufacturers would have to ensure that the dots remain readable for at least 15 years after fitment.
In 2016, about 2.1 lakh vehicles were stolen across the country with Delhi topping the list at 38,644, which translates to over 100 vehicles daily. Most of the vehicles stolen go untraced since auto-lifters take out the engines and other valuable parts before destroying the vehicles.
