Vehicle Registration in India

In recent times the Government of India issued a notification regarding a unified vehicle registration for private vehicles to reduce the inter-state mobility and re-registration of vehicle when the owner relocates to another part ie., State or Union territory.

Vehicle Registration in India

Vehicle registration plate or number plate or licence plate is the unique identification numbered plate attached to any motorized vehicle for its identification. The vehicle registration plate is issued by a Regional Transport Office at the district level in the respected states.

Types of vehicle registration

Depending upon the purposes there are various kinds of vehicle registrations depecited by a color codification.

Private Vehicle:

·       The vehicle is numbered on a white plate with a bold black lettering.

·       An electric vehicle is numbered on a green color background is used with white bold lettering.

Commercial Vehicle:

·       The vehicle is numbered on a Yellow plate with bold back lettering.

·       Vehicles available for rent or self-driving is depicted by yellow letterings on a black background.

·       Vehicles running on Electricity are depicted by yellow lettering on a green background.

Foreign Missions/ Diplomatic Vehicles

·       Vehicles registered to an embassy of a country or of the United Nations has a numbering of white lettering over a blue background

·       Vehicles registered to a consulate would have a yellow lettering on a blue background

Armed Forces

·       Vehicle registered by the Indian Armed Forces has a white lettering over a black background

Temporary Registrations

·       Unsold vehicles belonging to a dealer would be depicted by a white lettering on a red background

·       Sold vehicles in-line for registration would have red lettering on a yellow background

Registration Format

Passenger and Commercial Vehicle format

Diplomatic Vehicles

XX can be:

·       CD- Corps Diplomatique, vehicle registered to an Embassy

·       CC-  Corps Consulaire, vehicle registered to a Consulate

·       UN- United Nations, vehicle registered for an UN Mission

Armed Forces Vehicles

BH series

The government of India issued a notification regarding a unified vehicle registration for private vehicles to reduce the inter-state mobility and re-registration of vehicle when the owner relocates to another part ie., State or Union territory.

The BH series is provided for employees working in public and private sectors under certain conditions, where the private employee’s firm to own offices at 4 or more states in the country.

The BH series follows a separate format where

High Security Registration Plates

HSRP is temper- proof aluminium made number plate system mandated and enforced by the Government of India. The HSRP number plates consists of a patented Chromium Hologram with laser embossed inscription "India" at a 45-degree inclination.  This was mainly implemented to discourage the theft of vehicles, where the number plates cannot be altered or changed. A HSRP cannot be reused or changed. A unique snap lock provided would ensure in destroying the number plate if tampered or forcibly removed. This also helps in accumulation of crucial information on vehicle details, like engine number, chassis number, etc., and stores it in a central database.