Gujarat Govt Allows Retention, Transfer Of Vehicle Registration Numbers

The Gujarat government on Monday announced that a registration number can be retained by an owner even after the vehicle is sold or scrapped, and can be transferred for a stipulated fee to a new vehicle purchased by him or her. Making the announcement, Gujarat Transport Minister Purnesh Modi said such a system is already in place in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, and has been introduced here after representations from vehicle owners.

"People are attached to their vehicle registration numbers for several reasons, like religious beliefs or numerology. Now, owners in Gujarat can keep the number even after selling the vehicle or getting it scrapped," he said.

"The retained number can be transferred to a new vehicle purchased by the owner. However, it cannot be used for an old or already registered vehicle. Further, the owner as well as make of both vehicles must be the same. Thus, the retained number of cars cannot be transferred to a newly purchased bike by the same person," he said.

He clarified that numbers of already scrapped vehicles cannot be retained now, and, moreover, the applicant must own the vehicle for at least one year to qualify for number retention.

The process of retaining the old number and transferring it to a newly purchased vehicle must be finished in 15 days.

The fee for number retention for two-wheelers is Rs 8,000 for 'golden category' fancy numbers, Rs 3,500 for 'silver' fancy numbers and Rs 2,000 for other numbers.

The fee for cars and other four wheelers starts with Rs 40,000 for the golden category, Rs 15,000 for silver and Rs 8,000 for all other numbers.