Is sun film legal in India? What Rule 100 and the courts say

Short answer: film is no longer banned outright by the rulebook, but it is far from a free pass. Rule 100 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules was amended by notification GSR 457(E) dated 20 July 2020, which, as Supreme Court Cases Online recorded, added "safety glazing conforming to standards" as an option to safety glass. The light limits did not change. The windscreen and rear window must pass not less than 70 per cent visual transmission of light, and the side windows not less than 50 per cent, and the material must conform to Indian Standard IS 2553 (Part 2) (Revision 1): 2019.

The important part is how it is measured. The notification says the transmission percentage "shall be the same for the safety glass on the glass with safety glazing". So a film is judged along with the glass it sits on, not on its own. Factory glass on most cars is already slightly tinted, which is why a film sold as 70 per cent can still take the combined reading below the limit.

Why police still stop cars with film

Because the Supreme Court order that created the crackdown is still on the books. In Avishek Goenka vs Union of India, decided on 27 April 2012 and operative from 4 May 2012, the court prohibited "the use of black films of any VLT percentage or any other material upon the safety glasses" across India, with a narrow exemption route for protected VVIP vehicles. It also directed traffic police to prosecute under Rules 92 and 100 and to remove the films.

That order was passed on the older version of Rule 100. The Kerala High Court took up exactly this conflict in M/George & Sons vs Union of India, where Justice N Nagaresh held that owners cannot be penalised for using safety glass or safety glazing, including glazing faced with plastics, if it stays within the stipulated VLT and conforms to the Indian Standard. The court treated the 2012 ruling as having dealt with the unamended rule. That judgment is a Kerala High Court judgment, so it is not automatically how a constable in Gurugram or Chennai will read the law.

Enforcement elsewhere has gone the other way. The Madras High Court, in a petition heard by a bench of Acting Chief Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq, directed the state to seize vehicles misusing stickers and using sun control film against the Supreme Court order, and allowed police to intercept vehicles to check.

What a drive actually costs

The money is real. Gurugram Traffic Police ran a month-long drive from 1 to 30 September 2026 against vehicles fitted with unauthorised black films, and reported 777 vehicles challaned for a total of ₹77.70 lakh.

What an owner can sensibly do

Buy glass, not darkness. Factory tinted glass fitted by the carmaker is the cleanest route and nobody will argue with it.

If you want film, insist on a product whose maker states conformity to IS 2553 (Part 2) (Revision 1): 2019, and get the invoice and test documentation in your name, with the VLT figure written on it. Ask the installer to put a VLT meter on the glass after fitting, front, rear and sides, and keep that reading. Anything that takes a side window below 50 per cent or a windscreen below 70 per cent is indefensible in any state.

Also accept the risk honestly. Even a compliant film can mean a roadside argument, a challan and a day lost, because the 2012 prohibition has not been formally set aside. Black film, mirror film and anything you cannot see out of at night is simply illegal, and presenting it as a style choice does not change that.

Sources

• Avishek Goenka vs Union Of India & Anr, Supreme Court, 27 April 2012
• Centre Amends Motor Vehicle Rules To Incorporate More Safety Measures, LiveLaw
• MoRTH notifies regulations for tyres, safety glass, external projections, SCC Online
• Vehicle Owners Cannot Be Penalised For Glazing Windows With Plastic Film If They Conform To Stipulated Standards, LiveLaw
• Gurugram Police fine 777 vehicles Rs 77.70 lakh, UNI India
• Seize all the vehicles violating prohibition of sticker usage and sun control film, DT Next