India launches new Bharat series for vehicle registration

The centre has launched a new vehicle registration series named Bharat series (BH) to ensure consistent transfer over states. The new series releases vehicle owners from the re-registration procedure when they move from one state/union territory to another. The road transport ministry launched the new series, and the central government published it. The government informed that the new series would be available voluntarily to the defence staff, Central government workers, state government, state public sector enterprises and private sector firms or organisations, having offices in four or more states/union territories. The current rule permits a person to keep the vehicle in a state where it's not registered for a specific time. According to the existing rule, an individual is allowed to keep a vehicle for a maximum of 12 months in any state apart from the state where it is registered. The owner has to get such a vehicle re-registered by the end of 12 months. As per the road transport ministry, the format of the BH-series registration mark would be YY BH #### XX. YY means the year of first registration, BH is code for Bharat Series, #### is the four-digit number, and XX are two alphabets. A vehicle displaying this registration doesn't need a new registration mark when the owner moves to another state. The Government announced that the motor vehicle tax levied by the union territories/states at the registration time in respect to the BH-series non-transport vehicles would be 8% if the vehicle costs up to Rs 10 lakh, 10% if it costs between Rs 10-20 lakh, and 12% if it costs over Rs 20 lakh. Moreover, an additional 2% would be levied for diesel vehicles. On the other hand, 2% less tax for electric vehicles (EV). If the vehicle has the BH-series registration mark, the motor vehicle tax should be levied electronically. After the 14th year, the motor vehicle tax would be imposed yearly, which should be half of the amount charged earlier. From September 15, 2021, the Central Motor Vehicles (Twentieth Amendment) Rules, 2021, would come into effect, and the registration mark for the new series would be made via the portal. Currently, a vehicle owner has to take a no-objection certificate from the initial state for re-registration to get a new registration mark in the other state. The previous year, the central ministry mandated every vehicle sold in India before April 2019 to have high-security registration plates (HSRP). It also directed that the documents of a vehicle that are validated by electronic means should not be asked for a physical inspection. Image Source