New Number Plates for vehicles from April 2019

New Delhi: From April 2019, vehicle buyers will not have to wait for getting a high-security registration plate (HSRP) or seek an appointment with the vendor to fix them. The road transport ministry has mandated the automobile manufacturers to provide them along with the vehicle and dealers to affix them before sale.

Similarly, the vehicle manufacturers will also manufacture the third registration mark, which will also have colour coding for the fuel used in the vehicle, and these will be fixed by the authorised dealers on the windshield before any vehicle comes out of the showroom. In the case of existing vehicles, the government notification said, “The dealers of the vehicle manufacturers may also affix such plates, supplied by the vehicle manufacturers, on old vehicles after placing the registration mark.”

The HSRPs will come with five years’ guarantee and the third registration mark, a chromium-based hologram sticker, will be such that once it is removed, it will get destroyed, and cannot be reused. The sticker will have the details of registering authority, registration number, laser-branded permanent number, engine number and chassis number making the vehicle more secure from theft.

The Supreme Court has approved the scheme of colour coding for fuel for quick detection of polluting vehicles.

“The cost of the HSRP will be included in the vehicle cost itself. These registration plates with the distinctive number will be linked to the government’s Vaahan database. The new scheme will bring huge relief to vehicle owners as they will not face any harassment and there will be a nation-wide implementation of the order uniformly,” said a government official.

Though the Supreme Court had ordered complete rollout of HSRP way back in 2005, nearly a dozen states have not yet implemented it. The SC had passed the order after the 2002 Parliament attack in which a vehicle with tampered number plate was used by terrorists. HSRPs have security features which are tamper-proof.

Meanwhile, Association of Registration Plates Manufacturers of India said they will challenge the central notification in the Supreme Court. “The Centre has no power to issue such an order or rule and it is against the MV Act. It can only lay down the form and manner of display of registration mark. Execution is a state subject. The SC had directed states to implement the rule after selecting a single vendor who would be responsible throughout the manufacturing and affixation process. The amended rules will pave way for multiple vendors and no price fixation and no accountability of the multiple vendors,” said aaAssociation spokesman