In a move that will bring much-needed relief to motorists moving from one Indian state to another, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has introduced a new registration mark for new vehicles – Bharat Series (BH-series). A vehicle with the BH mark will not require a new registration mark when the owner shifts from one State to another.

As a MoRTH notification, This facility will be available on a voluntary basis to defence personnel, Central and State government PSUs and private sector companies having their offices in four or more States/Union Territories.

The scheme will essentially facilitate free movement of personal vehicles across States and UTs upon relocation to a new State/UT.

The format of the Bharat series will include the year of vehicle registration, the BH code for Bharat Series, numbers and alphabets

Currently, under  Section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, a vehicle owner is not allowed to keep a vehicle in another state for more than 12 months and it has to be re-registered with the new state. To do this, the vehicle owner has to get an NOC from the parent state to register the vehicle in the new state. Also, the vehicle has to be assigned a new registration mark after the road tax on pro-rata basis is paid in the new state. This has to be followed by an application for refund of the road tax in the parent state on a pro-rata basis. Rather cumbersome to say the least.

As per the new BS Series, the road tax will be levied for two years or in multiples  of two. The MoRTH notification states that,  “After completion of the 14th year, the motor vehicle tax or road tax shall be levied annually and it will be half of the amount which was charged earlier for that vehicle.”