The Bharat series number plate was introduced in August 2021 to ease personal vehicle mobility across the country

In August 2021, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) introduced the BH or Bharat series number plates. The government organisation introduced the new number plates to ease the mobility of personal vehicles across the country. For the unversed souls, vehicles without BH series number plates could only be driven in another state for 12 months. After the period of 12 months, the vehicle owners were asked (as per Section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act) to transfer the registration of the vehicle from its home state to the residing state. 

Importance of the number plates

As we are well aware, be it work related to RTO (regional transport office) or any other government office, the process is extremely slow and therefore, changing registration from one state to another is a nightmare. That is precisely where the Bharat series comes in. One number plate and one vehicle tax to move freely in the entire country. However, at the moment, the Bharat series is only accessible to people working in the defence sector or those working with state, central government and with MNCs that are present in over four Indian states. 

How to get the BH number plates?

If you are purchasing a new vehicle, you can directly talk to the showroom and tell them you wish to apply for the BH series plates. To apply, prove that you are an employee of the mentioned sectors or companies. Once it is verified, the showroom itself will apply for the plates, and at the time of collecting the vehicle, you will find your vehicle with the BH series number plate. If you already have a car with an old number plate, you can check the eligibility by going through the Vaahan portal. 

Decoding the BH series number plates

The format of the BH series number plates differs from the standard number plates. For example, let’s take an imaginary number plate HR 26 BB 4444. Here, HR stands for Haryana, 26 is the district where the vehicle is registered, BB is the series number and 4444 is the 4,444th vehicle of the BB series. However, the BH series number plates differ. For example, here is how a BH series number plate reads- 22 BH 4444 AA (22 means 2022, BH is Bharat series, 4,444 is the registration number, whereas AA is the vehicle category).