High security registration vehicles now mandatory for vehicles registered before April 2019

Representation pic

Vehicle owners will have to pay prices ranging from Rs 531 to Rs 879 to affix mandatory high-security registration plates (HSRP) to vehicles registered before April 1, 2019, as per the Maharashtra transport department. The price includes the GST and the snap lock cost. The transport department payment link opened on Wednesday.

The cost for fitting HSRPs to tractors and two-wheelers like motorcycles and scooters will be R531, R590 for three-wheelers like auto-rickshaws, and R879 for four or more-wheeled vehicles like cars, buses, trucks, tankers, tempos, and trailers.

For fitting HSRPs to old vehicles registered before April 2019, the state transport department has made an appointment facility available on its website and the dedicated webpage. The website also mentioned HSRP rates for different types of vehicles including bifurcations.

As per the bifurcation, excluding GST, the cost of each HSRP plate of 200 mm x 100 mm and 285 mm x 45 mm size for two-wheelers and three-wheelers will be R219.9, while the plates of 500 mm x 120 mm and 340 mm x 200 mm size for four or more-wheelers will cost Rs 342.41.

The cost of snap locks and the third registration mark, excluding GST, will be R10.18 and R50, respectively, for all types of vehicles. The Goods and Services Tax component for affixing the HSRP will be R81 for two-wheelers and tractors, R90 for three-wheelers, and R134.10 for four or more-wheeled vehicles.

Even old vehicles, registered before April 1, 2019, will also be fitted with HSRPs on the front and rear sides along with a third registration mark sticker on their windshields, except for two-wheelers and tractors, as prescribed under Rule 50 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

Along with GST, the rates include the cost of non-removable snap locks for tractors and two-wheelers, while for three-wheelers and four or more-wheeled vehicles, the price includes the cost of the third registration mark sticker, which will be placed on the windscreen of all vehicles. RTO sources said 18 per cent GST will be applicable on the rate for HSRPs.

March 31, 2025 deadline

For the old vehicles registered before April 1, 2019, the Maharashtra Transport Commissioner's Office has set a deadline of March 31, 2025, for affixing HSRPs and appointed three agencies, after a long-drawn-out tendering process, to carry out the task. Authorities issued the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the new registration plates a day before the new Maharashtra government was sworn in in December.

To curb vehicle thefts and bring uniformity to vehicle identity marks, the fitment of these number plates was made mandatory for the vehicles registered in Maharashtra before April 2019, and the onus of installing those was on the manufacturers. Made of a rare aluminium alloy, HSRP contains a retro-reflective film with a verification inscription ‘India,' a chromium-based Ashok Chakra hologram, the hot-stamped letter IND in blue, and a 10-digit laser branding of a unique serial number, making it tamper-proof. As per SOP, the vehicle owner is responsible for getting HSRP and a third registration mark sticker installed by March 31, 2025.