Vehicle owners are not the only ones coming under scrutiny as the Traffic Department steps up enforcement of Guyana’s new vehicle tint regulations, with Traffic Chief Mahendra Singh warning that businesses installing illegal tint will soon be facing the courts.
The new Motor Vehicles and Road Traffic (Tint) Regulations were gazetted on January 1, 2026, introducing specific Visible Light Transmission, or VLT, limits for vehicle windows.
Under the regulations, front side windows must allow at least 25 percent VLT, while rear side windows and the rear windscreen must allow at least 20 percent. No tint is permitted on the front windscreen, except for a visor strip.
While the regulations came into force in January 2026, motorists were given a three-month amnesty period to test and adjust their tint. Full enforcement began on April 1, 2026, with non-compliance attracting a $30,000 fine.
And according to Traffic Chief Mahendra Singh, the enforcement has already resulted in a significant number of cases.
Singh told News Room that since the regulations took effect, Police have been recording more than 100 tint-related cases each week, with most involving the front windscreen.
“Each week since the regulation went into effect we would have an average now more than 100 cases per week and most of it if not all was for the front windshield,” he said.
Singh says some motorists are still using tint that is considerably darker than what is permitted.
“Naturally once the offence is established, we have to charge you,” he said.
Police continue to use calibrated tint meters to determine whether vehicles are compliant, and Singh says the cases are being filed before the courts.
“Whatever we are doing is for the benefit of the public and the cases continue to be made and are filed before the court,” Singh told the News Room.
But the Traffic Department is now going a step further.
Singh says regional traffic heads are being instructed to investigate where illegal tint was installed and identify the vendors responsible.
Where it is established that a tint installer knowingly applied tint outside the legal limits, the vendor can also be charged.
“He or she will be charged too,” Singh said.
And Singh said those cases involving tint installers will soon begin appearing before the courts.
The Traffic Chief stressed that the enforcement is not aimed at shutting down tint businesses, but at ensuring that the requirements set out in the law are followed.
“This is not a shut down exercise or to take anyone out of business. This is specifically what is written,” Singh noted.
With enforcement continuing, Singh said the objective is to prevent non-compliant practices from becoming normalized.
“If we don’t take these actions some of these things become normal in society and it goes unchecked and when it spirals out of control we can’t blame anybody. It’s our responsibility” he told the News Room.
