Maha: Fancy number plates could soon be thing of the past as state gears up for HSRP on all vehicles

The Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Department invited bids for fitment of tamper-proof HSRP on all vehicles registered in the state before April 2019, officials said

Mumbai: Fancy number plates on vehicles flaunting ‘Ram’, ‘Dada’, ‘Boss’, ‘Papa’ and many such creative works could become a thing of the past in Maharashtra, with the state government moving to get High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) fitted on all vehicles.

The Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Department on Wednesday invited bids for fitment of tamper-proof HSRP on all vehicles registered in the state before April 2019, officials said. The Centre has made HSRP must for every new vehicle registered in the county from April 1, 2019.

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Presently, several vehicles display fancy number plates. For instance, 8055 is creatively written to look like BOSS, 0214 as RAM, 4141 as PAPA, 2151 as RAJ, and 4912 as PAWAR.

According to officials, the motor vehicles department plans to fit HSRP on all vehicles within 12 months once it finalises a contractor for the job.

If everything goes as per the plan, they said, the process of affixing HSRP could start from the beginning of next year and all old vehicles would get HSRP before 2024-end.

A senior official from the department said that as per their estimates 1 to 1.25 crore old vehicles are expected to be affixed with HSRP in a year, which will cover most old vehicles.

As per RTO (road transport office) officials, HSRP will standardise number plates of vehicles, bringing an end to fancy number plates, which many motorists now consider a status symbol.

With the motor vehicles department inviting bids for fixing HSRP on all vehicles, they said, the days of fancy number plates are numbered.

These number plates were not mandatory for vehicles registered in Maharashtra before April 2019.

Made of a rare aluminum alloy, HSRP contains a retro-reflective film with a verification inscription ‘India’, chromium-based Ashok Chakra hologram, hot-stamped letters ‘IND’ in blue, and a 10-digit laser-branding of a unique serial number, making it tamper-proof.

These registration plates, protected against counterfeiting, are fixed at the front and rear end of the vehicles. A third registration mark refers to a chromium-based hologram sticker affixed on the inner side of the windshield, if the vehicle is a four-wheeler, with details of registration.

HSRP is also popular among citizens as ‘IND’ or ‘INDIA’ number plates.

Around 2.1 crore vehicles, including two-wheelers, three-wheelers, cars, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, and tractors, were registered in Maharashtra between 2008 to 2019, as per the tender documents.

According to the tender documents, the bidders will have to set up HSRP embossing and affixing centres in the jurisdiction of every RTO depending upon the vehicle population there, besides developing a mobile app that will be used for activities like appointment, payment, grievance registration.

According to motor vehicles department officials, two days after a motorist takes an appointment through a mobile app for HSRP affixation, the contractor will have to keep the number plate of the vehicle ready at its facility.

Post affixation of HSRP, the contractor will be required to update the data about fitting of HSRP on the vehicle and the unique laser number (comprising 10 digits) of the tamper-proof number plate along with the vehicle’s registration number and photos through a mobile app.