Your car comes with a registration plate and the first two letters of that alphanumeric code denote the state that it was bought from. So, a car bought in Maharashtra will have MH at the start of its registration number and one bought in Goa will have GA. When a person wants to move to another state, they can take their car with them but they can't keep the same registration number for more than a year. It is imperative that they get vehicle transfer formalities done and acquire a registration number from that state.
A new rule from the Government of India aims to curb his hassle by launching BH series registration plates, where the BH stands for Bharat. These plates will be incredibly beneficial for those who move from one state to another with their car often. The registration process for BH series plates started on the 15th of September 2021 and can be done online.
For any private vehicle registered under a regular number plate, road tax gets levied for fifteen years. However, road tax for BH series cars will be levied for a minimum of two years or in multiples of two based on the amount of time the owner wishes to spend in the state. Refunds will be issued for any extra tax paid by the owner in the home state.
The BH series registration plate format will be very different from the regular format. It follows the YY BH #### XX format. Here, the YY stands for the year in which the registration is taking place. So, every BH series vehicle registered this year will have 22 at the start of it. Moving on, as you know already, BH stands for Bharat. The four numerals denoted by #### will be unique numbers between 0000 and 9999. The XX stands for the letters AA to ZZ.
Unfortunately, not everyone is eligible to apply for such registration plates. Since it's meant for people who move states more often, it can be availed by defence personnel, central government employees, state government employees, and central/state PSUs. Moreover, private sector companies with offices in more than 5 states/UTs can also get such plates for their employees' cars.
If one meets the above-mentioned criteria, then one can apply for a BH series registration plate at the nearest RTO, or use the Vahan portal. A functional government ID would have to be submitted to prove employment. Moreover, the owner will also have to pay a minimum of two years of road tax. No kind of NOC from the home state will be necessary, which is great news.
This new system for the transferring of registration between states is sure to be of immense help for those who move between states a lot.
