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Different Types of Number Plates in India

Different types of number plates in India

Different types of the number plate and their meaning

 

White number plate- White number plates with black lettering are the most common types of vehicle registration plate. Cars with these number plates are solely used for private purposes. In other words, these vehicles cannot be used for commercial purposes such as for transporting goods and ferrying passengers.

Yellow number plate- Yellow number plates come with a black text pattern. These vehicle registration plates can only be used for commercial purposes. Please note, the driver must have a commercial driving permit to drive such vehicles.

Green number plate- If you see a green coloured number plate on roads, be sure that these number plates belong to electric cars. These are applicable for use on road-legal electric buses as well as commercial electric vehicles.

Black number plate- These number plates are very popular as luxury hotel transport. Moreover, these cars can be used as commercial vehicles that can run on roads without the necessity of drivers having a commercial driving permit.

Red number plate- The red number plate symbolises that the brand new car has a temporary vehicle registration plate and yet to get a permanent one (issued by the RTO). Temporary vehicle registration comes with 1-month validity. The rules regarding temporary vehicle registration plates differ from one state to another. In fact, some of the Indian states do not allow vehicles with temporary number plates to drive on roads.

Blue number plate- A blue coloured number plate with white letters is issued by the respective authority to a vehicle reserved for foreign diplomats. These number plates bear alphabets such as DC (Diplomatic Corps), CC (Consular Corps), UN (United Nations), etc. These license plates do not bear a state code; instead, they come with the country code of the diplomat. The following table helps you to decipher the country code of any diplomat.

Number

Country

1

Afghanistan

2

Algeria

5

Australia

7

Bangladesh

11

Great Britain

17

China

52

Netherlands

68

Pakistan

73

Turkey

75

Russia

77

United States

102

Iceland

109

Israel

134

Botswana

Therefore, next time you see a blue coloured license plate, you can easily identify the country code of the diplomat sitting in the vehicle.

Number plate with upward-pointing arrow- If you have closely observed a military vehicle, you could notice that the number plates attached to the vehicle have a unique style. The numbers found on those plates are registered under the Ministry of Defence. The first and third upward-pointing arrow of the type of license plates is known as Broad Arrow.These upward-pointing arrows are used in many parts of the British Commonwealth. The two digits immediately after the arrow point to the year the military vehicle was procured. Next comes the base code, which is followed by the serial number. The penultimate letter of the license number refers to the class of the vehicle.  

Red number plate with the emblem of India- This is a very special kind of number plate and comes with the emblem of India branded in golden colour. 

Different types of number plates and the designated user

Laws related to number plates in India

Frequently Asked Questions