Things to Know About Your Vehicle’s Number Plate

1. Maintaining Law and Order: Vehicle number plates are a medium of accountability towards the driver. In case of traffic violations or accidents, the party responsible can be easily identified. 

1. Theft Prevention: Modern High Security Number Plates prevent tampering of the vehicle to a large extent as it is extremely difficult to fake these plates or swap them.  

1. Regulatory Compliance: Colour coding name plates immediately signal each vehicle's legal status to the public and police, ensuring essential regulatory compliance.  

Elements of a Vehicle Number Plate in India:

Every number plate has a standard format AA 00 AA 00.  

These digits are more than just alphabets and hold different specifications.  

The number plate is made up of four key components that contain specifications about that vehicle. It offers a distinct identity to each vehicle. 

The vehicle registration plate contains the following four parts:

1. Part 01: The code of the state or union territory where the vehicle is registered is indicated by the first two letters on the registration plate. For example, a car registered in Maharashtra begins with MH, a car registered in Karnataka begins with KA, and so forth. Since the 1980s, the two most significant alphabets of the state's name have been used on car licence plates.

Below are the State and Union Territory codes for the registration of vehicles in India:

Part 02: Next two digits after the state or UT code is for the district under which the vehicle is registered. Each district has a designated RTO which issues driving licence, registration numbers and all other vehicle related issues.

Part 03: The vehicle's unique registration number is the third crucial component of a number plate. Every 4-digit registration number is assigned a number between 0001 and 9999. The final digits are changed to letters and the same range of numbers is utilised again if the numbers in the series are not available. A fancy or a customised registration number can also be brought at a higher cost for the vehicle.

Part 04: The 'IND' oval logo, an acronym for India, is the fourth component of a registration plate. The oval logo, which appears on HSRPs (High Security Number Plates), features a "chakra" chromium logo. In an effort to reduce car theft cases, tamper-proof registration number plates were initially adopted in 2005.

Registration Details on Vehicle Number Plates:

When someone buys a new vehicle, the vehicle dealer issues a TR label that refers to 'To Register'. The registration label is deemed valid for a month and comes with a temporary registration number.

The owner of the vehicle must visit the local RTO within this period and register their vehicles by submitting all the required documents and completing the related procedure. Post vehicle inspection and document verification, the RTO issues a unique vehicle registration number to the vehicle.

Vehicle Registration Process in India:

A new non-commercial or private vehicle in India can be registered by submitting an application using CMV Form No. 20 to the registering authority. The car owner must submit the application together with the vehicle's roadworthiness certificate, sales certificate, printout of the chassis number, and any other required paperwork. To finish the registration process, they also need to pay the registration charge and the one-time road tax.

In India, the vehicle registration process is governed by the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. To ensure that the vehicle is legally recognized, roadworthy, and insured, the following set of documents are required:

• Application in CMV Form 20 (Additional photocopy required in case of vehicle hypothecation)
• Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate
• Vehicle Road-worthiness certificate
• Form 22 issued by the vehicle manufacturer
• Certificate of sales in Form 21
• Vehicle Insurance Document
• Address proof of the applicant (one of the following):

1. Aadhar Card
2. LIC Policy
3. PAN Card
4. Ration Card
5. Voter ID Card
6. Affidavit by the vehicle owner attested by a Notary, an executive, or Class I Judicial Magistrate.

8. Temporary Registration Certificate (For temporarily registered vehicles)

9. Passport sized photos (3 Copies)

10. Lifetime tax to be paid for private/non-commercial vehicle

Registration of Fancy Vehicle Number Plates

Many car owners choose exotic number plates to make their vehicles stand out. Popular numbers like 0786, 1111, and 9999 are in high demand, and some people are willing to pay extra for them.

However, fancy numbers are reserved by the state transport authority and are allotted through a separate bidding process, not through regular vehicle registration. The reason for this is that a given number may be applied by more than one application, yet a single number cannot be assigned to more than one person.  

Since numbers fewer than 100 are typically assigned to registered government vehicles, a single number, such 1 or 7, is not available. The VIP/fancy numbers are awarded through auctions held by RTOs in different states, at high cost. State-by-state government transportation websites list the fancy numbers that are accessible. 

Is It Legal to Use Custom Fonts on Number Plates?

Vehicle owners must use fonts that are easily visible even from a certain distance. It is prohibited to use any fonts that are confusing or difficult to read. So it is recommended to use bold standard lettering format to avoid any penalty and trouble with traffic authorities.  

Variation Of Format:

In a few of the states, the first '0' of the district code is replaced with a vehicle category. The Following are category codes assigned for different kinds of vehicles.

1. C- SUVs and cars
2. E - Electric powered vehicles
3. P - Transport Vehicles/Passenger vehicles
4. R - Three-wheeler vehicles
5. S - Two-wheelers
6. T - Tourist licensed vehicles
7. V - Vans and pickup trucks
8. Y - Rental vehicles

Different Number Plate Formats in India

Depending on the purpose of the vehicle or the vehicle category. Number plates can be of different colours:

1. White: All private cars and motorised bikes and scooters are required to have a white number plate with letters and numbers in black colour.
2. Black: Commercial cars with a private owner that are rented out for business purposes must have a black number plate with yellow wording on it. In some situations, a business driver's licence is not necessary.
3. Yellow: Commercial vehicles, including lorries, buses, and taxis, must have a yellow licence plate with black letters on it. The RTO must provide an official permission in order for someone to operate a commercial vehicle.
4. Blue: Vehicles that are used by foreign delegates are needed to have blue coloured number plates with numbers and letters in white. The state code in these number plates are replaced with country code to identify the country the vehicle is registered to.
5. Red: All vehicles used by the president or the state governors should have red coloured number plates. The vehicle number in such vehicles is replaced by the gold embossed emblem of India.

1. Upward arrow: Vehicle numbers for vehicles owned by defence organisations are formatted differently. The year of manufacture is used in place of the state code, and the upward arrow serves as the prefix for the vehicle number. The Ministry of Defence, located in New Delhi, is where the military's vehicles are registered.

The format for vehicle registration number has evolved in past years reasoned to the increase in the number of vehicles in the country and expansion in the number of vehicle classes and subclasses.