Ministry of Road Transport and Highways widens scope of BH number plate

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) announced today that the conversion of regular vehicle registrations into Bharat Series (BH) numbers will be allowed. The Ministry stated that this move is being undertaken  to widen the scope of the BH series ecosystem.

Prior to this announcement only new vehicles could register with the BH series mark.

The MoRTH also mentioned in the statement that a lot of representations were received towards strengthening the BH series ecosystem.

Thet statement also detailed the process to convert vehicles with the regular registration mark to the BH series.

"Vehicles currently having regular registration mark can also be converted to BH series registration mark, subject to payment of requisite tax, to facilitate persons who subsequently become eligible for BH series registration mark," the statement said.

In order to increase the ease of life for vehicle owners the MoRTH has proposed an amendment in rule 48 to enable the vehicle owner to submit an application for the BH series either at the place of residence or place of work.

The Working Certificate to be submitted by private sector employees has been further strengthened to prevent misuse, the statement said.

The BH or Bharat series number plates were originally introduced by the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) last year as a means to save government officials the hassle of re-registering their vehicles in the new state they’ve been transferred to. Its eligibility criteria was later broadened, to include new car buyers, who were looking to transfer to another state in the not-too-distant future, the same accessibility has now been provided to people with cars that are already registered.

So far, according to the latest government data, more than 49,600 vehicles have been registered under the Bharat (BH) series. The maximum number of vehicles has been registered under the BH series in Maharashtra (13,625), Uttar Pradesh (5,698) and Rajasthan (5,615).

(With inputs from PTI)