Gadkari wants cars to come with factory fitted numberplates

Cars in India will soon come fitted with numberplates and the cost will be included in the price of the passenger vehicle, said Nitin Gadkari, central minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, reports PTI.

Currently, the vehicle license plate is procured by various states separately from the designated agencies.

"We have taken an important decision. Now, manufacturers will fit the plates and embossing will be done later through machine," Gadkari told PTI.

The price of the numberplate will be included in the car's cost and the consumer will get some relief, he said. The minister said the new technology numberplates are intended to bring relief not only to consumers but also to bring in uniformity across States as each State used to buy these plates earlier.

The prices for numberplates procured by states ranged from Rs 800 to Rs 40,000. At present, the licence plate (numberplate) number is issued by the district-level Regional Transport Office (RTO) of respective states.

Gadkari also said that there would be no compromise in terms of security as far as vehicles are concerned and such norms will be same for all models (economy or luxury). "We will not compromise with security.... what security norms we have done for economic models, the same is for luxury and SUVs," he said.

The government recently made it mandatory for all cars manufactured after July 2019 to have airbags for drivers and seatbelt reminders besides speeding alert systems beyond 80kph and sensors for reverse parking to avoid accidents.

"Motor vehicles of category M1 (cars), manufactured on and after the July 1, 2019, shall comply with the additional safety features and its requirements stipulated in AIS-145 -2017," says the notification issued by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry.