Have you recently bought a car? Did you get a temporary registration number?

When the dealer called you to pick up your brand new car from the showroom, you must have made plans to take the new vehicle for a spin. However, to drive your newly purchased car, you must get a temporary license number. 

You must be wondering why we are stressing the word temporary only. Let us tell you why!

Temporary registration number refers to that particular number assigned by the dealer from which the vehicle is purchased. The temporary registration number is unique with every vehicle and comes with a validity of one month. Car owners must get their vehicles registered by the concerned Regional Transport Office (RTO) authority.

A temporary vehicle registration number must be assigned to the brand new vehicle (which is yet to get its permanent registration number) before it leaves the showroom.

To get a temporary number plate, follow the steps mentioned below.

• Step-1 – Fill up the Form 20.
• Step-2 - Submit the form to the authority under whose jurisdiction the vehicle falls.
• Step-3 – You can also submit the form to the dealer registered by the Transport of Commissioner.   
• Step-4 – Furnish the required documents (discussed in the next section).
• Step-5 – Make the payment of fees and tax as mentioned in Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989 for temporary registration.

You should also know how to check the temporary registration number as well.

To apply for a temporary registration certificate, you are required to furnish the following documents.

• Application for the temporary registration number plate via Form 20, Road Worthiness Certificate details (stating the vehicle has cleared all the required tests to be able to run on the road) via Form 22.
• Sales Certificate (having all the purchase-related details) via Form 21.
• Address proof (electricity bills, Ration card, etc.).
• Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC).
• Valid insurance certificate.
• Copy of PAN card. In case you cannot provide the PAN card, Form 60 and Form 61 would do.

As stated earlier, the temporary registration number has a validity of one month, within which the vehicle owner must get the permanent registration number. However, if an owner fails to get a permanent registration number within the given period, she/he may have to extend the validity period.

To complete the process, owners have to follow certain steps and also submit essential documents.

Please note, a vehicle owner can only apply for an extension twice. However, the extension application for the second time incurs a penalty charge as specified in the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989.

Following is a list of documents that you need to submit while applying for an extension of the temporary registration number.

• Application for the temporary registration number via Form 20
• Sales Certificate details via Form 21
• Road Worthiness Certificate details via Form 22
• Valid insurance certificate
• Proof of address
• Pollution Under Control Certificate (PUCC)
• Design approval certificate from STA (if you are applying for an extension for vehicles like trailer or semi-trailer)
• Original Sales Certificate details via Form 22 (in case of an ex-army vehicle)

It is clear from the above-mentioned list of documents that in order to initiate the process of applying for the temporary vehicle registration number, you must get the application form first. For that, you have to download the application form online. 

Follow the simple steps to get it done.

• Step-1- Visit the official website of Parivahan Sewa.
• Step-2- Move to the third option naming ‘Informational Services.’
• Step-3- Place your cursor on the second last option of ‘Downloadable Forms’ from the drop-down menu.
• Step-4- Click on ‘All Forms’/ ‘Vehicle registration.’ It will open a new page. 
• Step-5- Click on the required forms, and after opening the documents, download the forms and save them.

These are some steps regarding how to check vehicle temporary registration number plates.