[NavBHP]

The traffic police has fined me Rs.500 for a "Defective number plate". Few months ago they said it needs to be changed to one of those number plates having the blue IND logo, by which I understood it meant it is the high security number plates.
But I wrote to the RTO (got no reply) and even checked with the authorized service center if they have a provision to give such number plates, but they didn't.
So I'm clueless about what to do. I see high security number plates being officially issued online for Delhi. For Karnataka, I saw this website, but I wonder if it is legit.
Has anyone got their HSRP license plate done from an RTO or any other authorized center in Bangalore?

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by NavBHP

The traffic police has fined me Rs.500 for a "Defective number plate". Few months ago they said it needs to be changed to one of those number plates having the blue IND logo, by which I understood it meant it is the high security number plates.
But I wrote to the RTO (got no reply) and even checked with the authorized service center if they have a provision to give such number plates, but they didn't.
So I'm clueless about what to do. I see high security number plates being officially issued online for Delhi. For Karnataka, I saw this website, but I wonder if it is legit.
Has anyone got their HSRP license plate done from an RTO or any other authorized center in Bangalore?

Can you share a picture of the plates which you were using, when you were fined?
Most likely, you would have been fined for wrong font/size etc.

Coming to the Topic of HSRPs,
For Old vehicles, High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) Process is not yet rolled out in Karnataka.
KA RTO is still working out the modalities of rolling out the HSRP process for older vehicles.

This website which you have quoted is 100% fake.

Please note, the BLUE sticker IND plates are not HSRP Plates.
You definitely do not have to shift to those Blue sticker things.

So, for the time being, just use your old Plates, with legible HSRP 'type' Font (The Stickering guy will know what to use basically).

[NavBHP]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

Can you share a picture of the plates which you were using, when you were fined?
Most likely, you would have been fined for wrong font/size etc.

Coming to the Topic of HSRPs,
For Old vehicles, High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) Process is not yet rolled out in Karnataka.
KA RTO is still working out the modalities of rolling out the HSRP process for older vehicles.

This website which you have quoted is 100% fake.

Please note, the BLUE sticker IND plates are not HSRP Plates.
You definitely do not have to shift to those Blue sticker things.

So, for the time being, just use your old Plates, with legible HSRP 'type' Font (The Stickering guy will know what to use basically).

Thank you. This and this news reports say it could happen soon enough.
I had a look and the paint on one of the letters of my license plate has worn off a bit, but the letter is still legible. I wonder if this was the reason it was fined. However, around two months ago, my brother said a policeman stopped him and told him about the blue IND logo, which led me to HSRP articles.

Ok then. I guess I'll get a new plain metal plate. From these posts (Good number plate shop in south Bangalore), it appears it can be done at JC road or opposite CBI office.

Two questions:
1. My license plates were hand-painted. It was like that when the bike was purchased. If I get a new license plate with a standard font for the front plate, is it compulsory to change the rear plate also to the same font or can it be left as the old hand-painted one?
2. If HSRP's are not yet available in Karnataka, from your answer, I understand that anyone who needs to replace their number plate can get it done by using an ordinary license plate without the blue IND logo.

It would have been nice if such info was explained in detail in the RTO website.

[abhishek46]

Originally Posted by NavBHP

Two questions:
1. My license plates were hand-painted. It was like that when the bike was purchased. If I get a new license plate with a standard font for the front plate, is it compulsory to change the rear plate also to the same font or can it be left as the old hand-painted one?
2. If HSRP's are not yet available in Karnataka, from your answer, I understand that anyone who needs to replace their number plate can get it done by using an ordinary license plate without the blue IND logo.

It would have been nice if such info was explained in detail in the RTO website.

1. Its not compulsory, but for maintaining consistency, you can maintain same legible font on both plates.

2. Correct. For old vehicles, any standard plate with the standard Font will suffice.
One should avoid the Blue sticker things, those are a cop-magnet.

[Ragul]

Originally Posted by NavBHP

The traffic police has fined me Rs.500 for a "Defective number plate". Few months ago they said it needs to be changed to one of those number plates having the blue IND logo, by which I understood it meant it is the high security number plates.
But I wrote to the RTO (got no reply) and even checked with the authorized service center if they have a provision to give such number plates, but they didn't.
So I'm clueless about what to do. I see high security number plates being officially issued online for Delhi. For Karnataka, I saw this website, but I wonder if it is legit.
Has anyone got their HSRP license plate done from an RTO or any other authorized center in Bangalore?

I was fined too - for using a Square number plate in the front of my car (and possibly smaller font size both in front and the rear). I told the officer, the larger plates get bent and crushed when off-roading and the cop was genuinely sympathetic and apologetic but said rules are rules. I don't get why all the cars are sporting truck-sized fonts and I find them absolutely silly. I plan on getting slightly bigger plates made this weekend but still smaller than the oversized legal ones.

[NavBHP]

Originally Posted by Ragul

I was fined too - for using a Square number plate in the front of my car (and possibly smaller font size both in front and the rear). I told the officer, the larger plates get bent and crushed when off-roading and the cop was genuinely sympathetic and apologetic but said rules are rules. I don't get why all the cars are sporting truck-sized fonts and I find them absolutely silly. I plan on getting slightly bigger plates made this weekend but still smaller than the oversized legal ones.

So I decided to have a look at what these rules are. On the htp.gov website, there's this. If anyone can find something specific to Karnataka, please share.
Also found this site that mentions some details.

In summary, from MV Act (Rule 50, 51 of MV Act, 1989):
1. No fancy lettering. No other pictures or art.
2. Number plate size: For 2 wheelers: 200 x 100 mm and four wheelers: 340x 200 mm or 500 x 120 mm.
3. Rear letters height: 35mm, thickness: 7mm, spacing: 5mm.

Some things I don't like:
1. There are people issuing aluminium license plates with that blue IND sticker. Today I saw one such license plate squashed a bit. Is Aluminium really a good choice? I thought it had to be mild steel. Even a local service center guy said the blue IND plates were mandatory, and I had to explain to him that those plates are not the right ones, and the HSRP plates have specific rules. This clarity needs to be spread properly, hopefully in prominent newspapers and social media.
2. When the traffic police took a photo and issued a fine online, I didn't receive any notification about it. I remember reading long back that they store the photos on their server only for 15 days, so I couldn't even see the photo.
3. The lack of clarity about when HSRP plates will be available in Karnataka.

[NavBHP]

Visited the RTO today, and the official there confirmed that the license plate with that blue IND logo should not be used. I asked when the HSRP license plates would be available for older vehicles, and he didn't reply. So it looks like it'll take some time until it gets rolled out in Karnataka.
I asked if I could apply for an ordinary license plate (to replace my existing license plate) at the RTO, and I was told that it's not available from the RTO. So that has to be done at external shops. I wonder which shops would use mild steel for the plates.

[NavBHP]

Traffic police stopped my bike today again. On asking the cop, he said the numbers and letters on the license plate need to be straight. Mine was hand painted, and has slight curves at the ends of the letters. This was how the license plate was when the bike was purchased 15 years ago. I guess I'll just have to get a new one tomorrow. A tiny shop here says it'll cos Rs.350 for an aluminium plate. My existing plate is mild steel. Even my RC which I gave for renewal is not yet delivered and not available on DigiLocker either. If anyone has advice about what mistakes to avoid when getting the license plate made, please mention (mistakes in terms of selecting the font, plate material, size, shop etc.).

[airbus]

Originally Posted by NavBHP

If anyone has advice about what mistakes to avoid when getting the license plate made, please mention (mistakes in terms of selecting the font, plate material, size, shop etc.).

This guide was tweeted by Bengaluru Traffic Police (@blrcitytraffic):



I have removed Team-BHP transparent stickers from my number plate to avoid penalty for defective number plate.

[NavBHP]

Went to a license plate shop today. They have no clue about the rules. Showed them the rules as shown above. They were not bothered. Anyway, they issue number plates like the ones in this link. First they quoted Rs.350. I said I wanted it without the fake IND logo and when I returned to pay for it, they quoted Rs.400 (because I get extra space on the plate without the IND logo). These license plates are so thin. If you zoom in, you'll see the letters and numerals have "INDIA" printed all over it. Is it some safety feature? Anyway, he said he'd deliver and affix the plates tomorrow, without the fake IND logo. I hope these are the right kind of plates to affix. Not sure if the letter width conforms to the requirements. They said some standard is followed, and that only these types of plates are available now. My original steel license plates are much sturdier. I'm considering getting it re-painted with straight fonts and keeping it as a backup. Why is it so difficult for the authorities to designate some authorised dealers who can give a 100% guarantee that the license plates supplied are valid?

[NavBHP]

Originally Posted by abhishek46

Please note, the BLUE sticker IND plates are not HSRP Plates.
You definitely do not have to shift to those Blue sticker things. So, for the time being, just use your old Plates, with legible HSRP 'type' Font (The Stickering guy will know what to use basically).

Today I visited the shop where the license plates are made. The guy says that they had received instructions to make only the IND plates. It's basically the slightly reflective, greyish looking plate with IND written in blue on the left. This is not the one with plenty of stars on it. No matter how much I insisted on having a plain white plate with black letters, he didn't agree. They quote Rs.550 for what should actually cost Rs.300. He eventually agreed for 300. He even stuck the hologram above the IND. He says the objective of having these plates is so that cameras can capture it correctly. What confuses me is that the rules mention not having any other names or design on the plate. So is the IND and hologram actually allowed? Moreover, if the vehicle number is something like KA 03 AB 1234, the AB is embossed in a smaller font size than the size prescribed in the rules (for rear plate), because there is not enough space on the plate because the IND takes up space. He seemed scared that he'd get into trouble if he issued me any plate other than the IND plate. It would be interesting to know if this is officially sanctioned, because last month when I went to the RTO, a high ranking officer said that the blue IND logo should not be used. Another person at the RTO said that the letters should be painted on the plate. There seems to be no concensus on this. Hope someone clarifies this officially to all citizens.

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by NavBHP

-- The guy says that they had received instructions to make only the IND plates. --

This is not true. Even I am driving a 18 year old 2 wheeler and had a hand painted plate. Just last week I got a plain number plate made. There is no mandate for blue IND plate.

[NavBHP]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

This is not true. Even I am driving a 18 year old 2 wheeler and had a hand painted plate. Just last week I got a plain number plate made. There is no mandate for blue IND plate.

It would help to have a list of places in Bangalore where they agree to make number plates that conform to the legal specifications. Original HSRP plates are big enough to accommodate all letters at the right size. But the fake IND plates the shops are using, are not big enough, so they use smaller letters for two of the rear letters. This is bound to get caught by cops and it gives more business to the license plate creators. I stay near R.T.Nagar, so if there's anyone who could help with where I could get legally valid license plates made, please help. Also, it'd help to know what to tell them if they keep insisting on the IND plate. Was your new license plate hand painted or embossed with black letters? Stickers and plastic are not allowed, so did they print it on a metal plate in some way? What is the right way to do it? There's some German font which has a slash on the number zero, which should not be used. We are supposed to use a specific font.

[heysac]

A tweet by the Bangalore police a few months ago mentioned that the old vehicles will get 5 years to convert to HSRP. Just use a standard number plate for now!

[NavBHP]

Originally Posted by heysac

A tweet by the Bangalore police a few months ago mentioned that the old vehicles will get 5 years to convert to HSRP. Just use a standard number plate for now!

It would be nice if you could edit your post to link to the tweet and/or post a screenshot.

Last month when I went to the RTO, I made it a point to speak to an official there and also went to the office of the head of the RTO. Both of them said that using a standard number plate is fine. When I told the head that a license plate shop refused to give me a standard license plate or even an embossed one with black painted letters, his simple reply was that the RTO can only tell us what the rules are. They can't enforce it. Since I'm paying for a service, I should make sure I get what I'm paying for.
Then I asked if it's ok if I paint it myself, and he said that if I can do it properly, then yes. I assume that people who paint signboards could paint it if we give them the right dimensions and instructions. Perhaps we could do it ourselves by printing out a stencil and using spray paint cans.

Regarding HSRP, we need an official communication and authorized sources of the license plates. But one anomaly I noticed was that the motor vehicles act mentions:
"Except registration marks of the vehicle any other names pictures, arts shall not be displayed on number plates. Fancy lettering is not permitted.".
So technically, the IND and hologram on HSRP license plates would go against this, but one could also reason that the IND, hologram and laser etched number are part of the "registration marks".
For now, I can only assume that they are insisting on the non-standard IND plates in order to ensure that all number plates numbers are clearly visible and trackable via cameras. Moreover, the plates have a reflective background, which makes it stand out at night. The only issue I see, is that the non-standard plates use some kind of sticker on the letters, which I'm not sure if it's durable or not. The cost of these non-standard plates is Rs.300 for bikes, but some shops try over-charging at Rs.550.

All-in-all, there are some things I hope the RTO's and traffic police considers:

1. Ensure that license plate shops provide receipts and follow the license plate rules. The way they currently simply take a photo of the existing license plate and issue a new one without even checking the RC and verifying it with the chassis number, is appalling.
2. I know it's a long process to amend the motor vehicles act, so temporarily, the RTO could at least issue an official circular which mentions what the rules are and what kind of license plates are permitted. Amending the motor vehicles act to make it more specific and clear, would be best though.
3. At least until HSRP is officially rolled out in Karnataka, I hope a circular could be issued that clearly states that the currently issued non-standard IND plates are legal. This is necessary, since some shops emboss the letters of the rear plate in non-standard sizes due to a space shortage because of the IND logo. See the "JQ" in the attached image.