Types of Number Plates in India

For any vehicle, a number plate serves a quintessential role. If you plan to buy your car, having a basic understanding of the vehicle licence plates is necessary. After all, how would others ever identify the car without the licence plate? Given its necessity for vehicles to ply on roads, it has a very important to play.

Number plates get specialized and issued by the RTO or Regional Transport Authority. Vehicle owners need to install a number on their vehicle, and one could only follow this rule by implementing a vehicle licence plate. But did you know number plates have a popular term? Yes, it's also called the high-security registration plates or HSRP. Unlike previous bolts on these plates, the modern-day additions stay locked in on the automobile through snap locks & tools. And if one wishes to take them off, it strictly renders that plate useless for using it again.

Today's number plates comprise a wide range of colours, which you might not be familiar with in the beginning. So, to help you get a better idea of which colours indicate what, let's highlight the several types of plates that are available in the market.

Given that different number plates bear different meanings, it entirely depends on the vehicle type. So, which type of identification plate will you require incorporating in your vehicle? Learn more from the given narration:

Types Of Number Plates

For the types of vehicles, the Indian government has issued several types of number plates. These are mentioned in the following list. Follow the pointers to understand the meaning of each:

Yellow background: Having a yellow background of a number plate in the vehicle is the most common sight on the road. This particular number plate comprises a yellow background featuring black letters. This design signifies that the vehicle has been used for commercial purposes such as ferrying passengers or transportation of products. For a commercial vehicle in the land of India, having this design is mandatory.

White Background: Now, which vehicles feature a white background? Well, private car owners who use their vehicle for their personal usages can use the white background for their number plate. Now that the demand for owning a car in India is increasing at a rapid pace, a vehicle with white background has become pretty common to spot on the road.

Green Background: When a vehicle features a number plate with a green background and white letters, it means that it's an electric automobile. But if the green background has yellow letters in it, it's for commercial purposes. While white letters signify private usage, yellow letters are for commercial use.

Black Background: A number plate with a black background always gets embedded with yellow letters. Vehicles for self-driven rental services use these plates. But commercial vehicles don't require any permission for driving vehicles with a black background.

Blue Background: Although blue backgrounds are seldom common in India, you can still spot a vehicle with this background with white lettering. It signifies that the vehicle is of foreign consulates. And the numbers indicate the consulate's country.

Red Background: People who want to achieve their driver's licence must go for test driving. That's where test vehicles first come into being. These vehicles have red backgrounds that feature white letters. But the governors of states also use cars with a red background. And the President of India uses a car that comprises the red background and national emblem (Emblem of India) in gold letters.

Number plate having the upward-pointing arrow: You might not spot this unique kind of number plate on the road. But if you did, understand that the car was a military vehicle. Only the military officials get the allowance to drive vehicles that feature a licence plate that has the upward-pointing arrow. The numbers on this plate have registration under the Ministry of Defence. The third and first upward-pointed arrow is the Broad Arrow. These arrows get used in different British Commonwealth's parts. After the arrow, there are two digital that point out the year that military car got procured. There's a base code and a serial number. The licence number's penultimate letter signifies the vehicle's class.

Commuting by your own vehicle in a nation like India is not a cakewalk. But understanding these aforementioned types of number plates will make things simpler from your end. Thus, this post compiles elaborating the details about vehicle licence plates and how to spot them clearly.