Vehicle owners in Tamil Nadu may soon face increased fees for fancy or preferred registration numbers as the State government plans a significant revision of charges. The proposal includes a new premium category where numbers in future registration series could cost up to ₹8 lakh. This move, the first major change since 2012, aims to revamp the current system for advance and government-reserved registration numbers.
The existing system assigns vehicle registration numbers randomly during registration, but under the proposed amendment, owners seeking specific numbers from future series would see a substantial fee hike. The fee for securing a preferred number in the current and upcoming three series is set to double. For instance, obtaining numbers in the fifth to eighth future series would cost ₹1.2 lakh, rising to ₹2 lakh for the ninth and tenth series, and reaching ₹4 lakh for the eleventh and twelfth series.
A new premium category is introduced, where registration numbers in the thirteenth and fourteenth future series would attract a hefty fee of ₹8 lakh, making them the most expensive category. Additionally, the government plans to replace the current flat-rate system for fancy registration numbers with a value-based fee structure linked to the vehicle’s cost. The revised structure aims to ensure that owners of higher-value vehicles pay proportionately higher fees for preferred numbers.
For two-wheelers and three-wheelers, charges would vary from ₹2,000 for vehicles up to ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh for those valued above ₹30 lakh. Imported vehicles would also be subject to a slab-based fee system, with charges ranging from ₹20,000 to ₹1.5 lakh based on the vehicle’s value. The proposed changes, which require State government approval for number allotment, are expected to generate additional revenue and manage the increasing demand for premium registration numbers in Tamil Nadu.
