The Indian
government has come up with a new service to ensure hassle free State/Union
Territory move for car and vehicle owners. Public and private sector employees
who have been working a transferable job can now breathe a sigh of relief on
one aspect of relocation. The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has
introduced a novel registration mark that is called Bharat series (BH-Series).
"This vehicle registration
facility under 'Bharat series (BH-series)' will be available on voluntary basis
to defence 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 Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said in
a statement.
The statement further said that an
IT-based solution for vehicle registration is one such effort as “one of the
pain points in the vehicle registration process that needed attention was
re-registration of a vehicle while moving to another state”.
The MoRTH through a
"notification dated 26th August 2021, has introduced a new registration
mark for new vehicles i.e. '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", the statement
further explained.
Who can avail
this service?
As per the first post news article, The vehicle
registration facility under 'Bharat series (BH-series)' will be available on a
voluntary basis to defence 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 Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said in
a statement.
This only applicable
to new vehicles
What is
different?
The format
of BH-series registration mark will be YY BH #### XX. YY denotes the year of
first registration, BH is code for Bharat Series, #### is the randomised
four-digit number and XX are two alphabets.
In case,
where the vehicle bears BH-series registration mark, the motor vehicle tax
shall be levied electronically.
The registration
mark for BH-series vehicle will be generated randomly through an online portal.
Additional
charges:
Eight
percent motor vehicle tax will be levied on non-transport vehicles costing
under Rs 10 lakh; 10 percent on vehicles costing between Rs 10-20 lakh; and 12
percent on vehicles costing above Rs 20 lakh.
An
additional 2 percent extra charge will be levied if you own a diesel vehicle.
Electric
vehicle owners will get a tax rebate of 2 percent in their respective category.
Current laws
for interstate vehicular movement:
At present,
a person is allowed to keep a vehicle for a maximum of a year in any state
other than the state where it is registered. The owners have to get such
vehicles re-registered before the expiry of 12 months.
For re-registration,
vehicle owners require a no-objection certificate from the home state and then
can apply for the assignment of a new registration mark in another state.
Also, the
assignment of the new registration number is done after the road tax on a
pro-rata basis is paid in the new state.
