RTO begins one-month drive against fancy number plates and mandatory HSRP in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: The Regional Transport Offices (RTO) have begun a drive against fancy number plates on which Dada, Mama or Kaka are written in Devanagari script, depicting vehicle numbers. The drive began on Tuesday and will go till March 15. During this period, they will also check if vehicles have fitted High-Security Registration Plate (HSRP).

The state transport department authorities are racing against time to replace regular vehicle number plates with HSRP, for which the deadline has been extended to April 30 from March 31. In an internal circular dated February 18, the transport department asked all RTOs to go for a crackdown against these fancy number vehicles. The authorities stated in the circular that it is mandatory for vehicles registered after April 1, 2019, to have HSRP.

“We have asked RTOs to take action against those vehicles having fancy number plates with vehicle numbers depicting MAMA, DADA, KAKA; in this ongoing drive,” said Vivek Bhimanwar, transport commissioner for Maharashtra.

Sources in the department said vehicles with fancy number plates will be asked to install HSRP. The internal circular also calls for stringent action against such vehicles under section 190 (1) (driving in a public place a motor vehicle with any defect that the person knows could have been discovered, and if such a defect causes an accident) of the Motor Vehicles Act.

According to the sources, only over 5 lakh vehicles have been fitted with HSRPs out of more than 1.5 crore vehicles falling under this category. The HSRP is aimed at reducing thefts and standardising number plates. The cost of fitting them ranges from ₹531 to ₹879, which includes Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the snap lock charge.

Made from a special aluminium alloy, an HSRP includes a retro-reflective film, a verification inscription of ‘India’, a chromium-based Ashok Chakra hologram, a hot-stamped ‘IND’ in blue, and a unique 10-digit laser-etched serial number, which makes it tamper-proof. The Transport Commissioner’s office has appointed three agencies - Rosmerta Safety Systems Ltd, Real Mazon India Ltd, and FTA HSRP Solutions Pvt Ltd - to install new registration plates across three zones in Maharashtra.