Govt launches Bharat (BH) series registration for new vehicles to facilitate seamless transfer
30 Aug 2021
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The centre on Saturday announced the launch of a national registration series for new personal vehicles that would do away with the need to get the vehicles re-registered on shifting to another state.
While the centre has taken a host of citizen-centric steps to facilitate mobility, including an IT-based solution for vehicle registration, one of the pain points in the vehicle re-registration of the need for re-registration of a vehicle while moving to another state remained.
The new registration series would do away with this and give some respite for those, including government and private sector employees, who are forced to get their vehicles re-registered as they shift from one location to another in a different state as their work may demand.
At present, under section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, a person is allowed to keep the vehicle for not more than 12 months in any state other than the state where the vehicle is registered, but a new registration with the new state- registering authority has to be made within the stipulated time of 12 months.
A passenger vehicle user needs to take the following steps to re-register a vehicle:
- No Objection Certificate from the parent state for assignment of a new registration mark in another state;
- Assignment of new registration mark after the road tax on pro rata basis is paid in the new state; and
- Application for refund of the road tax in the parent state on pro rata basis.
This provision to get refund from the parent state on pro rata basis is a very cumbersome process and varies from one state to another.
In order to facilitate seamless transfer of vehicles, the ministry of road transport and highways vide notification dated 26 August 2021, has introduced a new registration mark for new vehicles, ie, “Bharat series (BH-series)”. A vehicle bearing this registration mark shall not require assignment of a new registration mark when the owner of the vehicle shifts from one state to another.
Format of Bharat series (BH-series) Registration Mark -
Registration Mark Format: -
- YY BH #### XX
- YY – Year of first registration
- BH- Code for Bharat Series
- ####- 0000 to 9999 (randomized)
- XX- Alphabets (AA to ZZ)
This vehicle registration facility under “Bharat series (BH-series)” will be available on voluntary basis to defense personnel, employees of central government/ state government/ central/ state public sector undertakings and private sector companies/organisations, which have their offices in four or more states/union territories.
The motor vehicle tax will be levied for two years or in multiple of two. This scheme will facilitate free movement of personal vehicles across states/UTs of India upon relocation to a new state/UT. After completion of the fourteenth year, the motor vehicle tax shall be levied annually, which shall be half of the amount which was charged earlier for that vehicle.
