According to BRTA regulations, it is illegal to cover any part of a number plate with any materials -- solid or colourless -- that affects the plate's visibility or reflectivity. The plates should be 524mm x 112mm in size and must have the number printed in Bangla in prescribed colour. Any illustrations beside the licence number are also strictly prohibited.

Zunayed Islam (not real name) has recently bought a brand new SUV from a showroom in Dhanmondi. The car came with a number plate frame that includes a metallic border along with the logo of the showroom at the bottom.

A few weeks later, Zunayed's car was stopped by a traffic sergeant and a case was filed not because the officer could not easily see the numbers on the plate, but because the plate had something over it, which is against the rules.

Car owners have definite reasons to be cautious as traffic officials have the authority to file cases against vehicles with such personalised number plates.

"Although putting anything beside the licence number is a complete violation of rules, you can see all sorts of things in number plates including metallic ornaments along with different fonts and sizes," said Humayan Rashid, operations manager of BRTA.

According to the rules, licence plates must have the number in Bangla, painted on flat steel or aluminium, following a specific colour code based on the manner of the vehicle.

The licence plates of normal cars should have the number written in white characters over a black background, for the vehicles of state-run corporations it is white characters on blue background and for foreign nationals' cars, it is black on yellow background.

The regulations specify black characters on white background for buses and taxis, while motorbikes are obliged to have white numbers over black backdrop on a smaller plate.

However, a large number of car owners tend to have their licence number written in English, another big segment tend to decorate their licence plates with metallic chained borders and other decorations to make them look better.

Many car owners tend to illuminate the number plate borders with neon lights. This practice is illegal and makes it difficult to see the licence number at night.

A number of business organisations and car showrooms have a tendency to use their company logo in the licence plate, which is a gross violation of the rules. However, most of the blame would fall on the car owners who ignore the law.

Mudassir Asif Khan (not real name), a car owner who has a number plate with licence number written in English along with a metallic border told this correspondent that he was not aware of the regulations.

"I was not aware that such rules exist and installed that number plate because it looks attractive and goes well with the car," said Khan.

BRTA officials said they have little control over the metal and engineering shops where the number plates are made. But the car owners are primarily responsible for such violation of rules, they said.

Although regulations oblige car owners to fix number plates of 524mm x 112mm size, Jahangir Alam who works at a workshop in Bangla Motors said he makes licence plates of any size and with any font. He does not know the rules.

"Each category of car has a specific size of licence plate that would be appropriate for it. But we can make it bigger or smaller, if the customer wants," said Alam. "I can add patterns and designs to the border if the customer wants."

Buses, CNG-run autorickshaws and human haulers should have their licence numbers inscribed with black paint over white background, but the tattered and dilapidated bodies of most of these vehicles make it difficult for anyone to notice the numbers.

"Some people intentionally distort the number plates and violate the rules. They use non-standard fonts, ornaments and what not, despite knowing that all these things are illegal," said Humayun Rashid, operations manager of BRTA.

"We are planning to take appropriate measures to create awareness among people about number plates, but we are stuck in dealing with other issues like CNG fare. However, we will take initiatives to bring discipline soon," he added.