DUSHANBE, February 12, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Since the beginning of this year, traffic police departments across the country have issued tinted glass permits to 1,888 car owners for a total of more than 4.295 million somoni (equivalent to some 1 million U.S. dollars), according to the main traffic police directorate at the Ministry of Interior (MoI).

To get tinted glass permit a car owner has to pay 2,275 somoni, the source said.

Since the beginning of this year, 51 car owners have been stopped in the country for breaking the car window tinting standards and they have been fined a total of 223,125 somoni, the source said noting that the penalty fee for breaking the car window tinting standards is 4,325 somoni each.

We will recall that amendments requiring penalty fees for breaking the car window tinting standards came into effect on January 1, 2010.  Under the current regulations, at least 75 per cent of light must pass through the driver’s side windows and vehicles may have tint on the windshield as dark as 25 percent, windows to the immediate left and right of the driver -- 30 percent, and rear windows – 30.  If car owners want to have other tinted glass parameters they have to obtain tinted glass permit.

All payments for tint glass permits and fines for breaking the car window tinting standards are directly remitted to the bank account opened to support construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power plant (HPP).