Tenders floated; Mysuru district has 6.70 lakh vehicles registered in 10 years 

Mysore/Mysuru: Very soon, owners of bikes, cars and other vehicles, who have registered their vehicles prior to April 1, 2019, will have to shell out money to replace their old registration plates. The Karnataka Transport Department is in the process of making High Security Registration Plates (HSRP) mandatory and it has floated tenders to select an agency to execute this massive exercise. 

The system to affix HSRPs, which are touted to be tamper-proof, is already in place in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh and in Karnataka, vehicles that have been registered after April 1, 2019 are all sporting HSRP but over 1.76 crore vehicles were registered before that. 

Earlier too, the State Government had made attempts to implement the policy in 2010-11. However, as the tender process was mired in controversies, the Government had cancelled the tender it had floated in 2013. Now again, fresh tenders have been invited. 

Speaking to Star of Mysore on this, L. Deepak, Regional Transport Officer (East), who also holds the additional charge as RTO West, said that they have information about the Department floating tender but there is no official communication from the Government in this regard and the process is within the Department and discussions are underway on the mode of the implementation.  

In Mysuru district, there are approximately 6,70,800 registered vehicles in the last 10 years and those vehicles that have been registered before April 1, 2019 have to mandatorily implement the HSRP rule once the State Transport Department notifies the same, Deepak added.

Sources in the Department said that once the tender is finalised, number plate affixing stations will be made available in each RTO jurisdiction and vehicle owners will have the option of making online bookings and affixing HSRPs at their doorstep. Fees will be collected from motorists as per the notification issued by the Department while the Department will get a royalty of 2 percent of the HSRP fee. 

 What is HSRP? 

A High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) is made up of aluminium and is fixed on the vehicle using two non-reusable locks. The registration plate comes with a hot-stamped chromium-based hologram of Ashoka Chakra on the top left corner which is blue in colour and precisely measures 20mm x 20mm. 

At the bottom left corner of the plate is a 10-digit PIN (Permanent Identification Number) that is laser-engraved on the reflective sheet. 

Similarly, the HSRP also comes with a hot-stamped film applied on the registration numerals and letters bearing the inscription ‘India’ at a 45-degree angle. Once the unique registration is fixed, it is then electronically linked to the vehicle.

Why is HSRP mandatory and what are its benefits?

• Old number plates are quite easy to tamper with and can be taken out or switched easily. 

• A stolen vehicle always ends up with a replaced registration plate, making it difficult for the authorities to track it down. 

• HSRPs come with a non-removable snap-on lock and are quite difficult to replace.

• The HSRPs store essential details of a vehicle including engine number and chassis number in a centralised database.

•  Stored data along with the 10-digit PIN becomes crucial in identifying a stolen vehicle. 

• HSRPs are only issued once the vehicle owner passes on essential details like engine number and chassis number. 

• Prevents counterfeiting of the registration plates.

• HSRPs have a uniform pattern.

• Menace of incomprehensible registration using different fonts will come to an end.