Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has introduced the BH series or Bharat Series registration mark in August 2022
It was introduced to put an end to the tedious process of re-registering a vehicle when owners move to other states
As per the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Section 47, vehicle owners who move from one state to another need to re-register their cars after a period of 12 months
Government employees, both central and state, and private employees who have their offices in more than four states and Union Territories are only eligible for the BH number series
The owners are allotted a specific number when they register their vehicle under the BH series, and the same number can be used across India, eliminating the obligation to re-register a vehicle
The new BH series number plate is only available for non-transport vehicles, both new and privately owned vehicles
It comes with a new unique – YY BH #### XX format. While YY represents Year, BH stands for Bharat. The YY and BH are then followed by 4-digit computer-generated numbers and alphabets
Vehicles owners looking to get one must submit the BH Registration Form in the local RTO office, along with necessary fees or tax ( if any), to get their application approved
This can be also done through an automobile dealer, who fills Form 20 or Form 60 (for private employees) on behalf of the vehicle owner. Following which, the registration number will be allotted to the owner
For vehicles with Bharat Series number plates, the owner must pay road tax for the first 14 years (one-time payment). After that, the tax is levied every 2 years or in multiple of two, i.e, four or six, or eight years
For vehicles below Rs 10 lakh – 8% tax is levied on the invoice
For vehicles priced between Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh – 10% tax is levied on the invoice
For vehicles priced above Rs 20 lakh – 12% tax levied on the invoice