Retain Your Old Vehicle’s Registration Number For Your New Vehicle — Here’s How

When a new vehicle is purchased in India, a new registration number is automatically allotted by the concerned RTO. Those who believe in numerology or even consider a number lucky or special, can get their desired registration number by paying a certain fee. In some cases, this fee runs into a few lakh rupees, depending on the brand and price of the vehicle purchased.

When this particular vehicle is sold, the number too goes along with the vehicle. If the number is of some significance to the owner, it is a tremendous loss. Now though, a new rule in Gujarat will allow owners to keep their special registration number and transfer it to their new vehicle.

For the end-user/vehicle owner, the benefits of this rule are tremendous. Their favourite registration number can remain theirs forever, and they can save a large amount of money when buying a new car as they won't have to pay once again to get a special number. There are, however, a few conditions.

Firstly, the registration number can be retained only when the vehicle owner buys a new vehicle. The number cannot be transferred to a vehicle that already has been registered. Further, the vehicle has to be of the same type as the current vehicle. So, one cannot transfer the registration number of their car to a newly-purchased motorcycle.

The current vehicle has to be owned by the applicant for atleast one year before the number can be asked to be transferred to a new vehicle. Registration numbers of already scrapped vehicles cannot be transferred to a new vehicle.

The process of transferring an old number to a new vehicle must be completed within 15 days of purchasing the new vehicle/selling the old vehicle. Finally, it goes without saying that the old vehicle will need to get a new registration number once the current number has been transferred unless it has been scrapped.

Also, there will be a fee for this registration number retention. For the Golden Category of special numbers for two-wheelers, the fee is Rs 8,000. It costs Rs 3,500 to retain Silver Category of special numbers while it only costs Rs 2,000 to retain other non-special numbers.

The number goes up for four-wheelers. It costs Rs 40,000 for the Golden Category, Rs 15,000 for Silver Category, and Rs 8,000 for non-special registration numbers.

Thoughts On Old Vehicle Registration Numbers Being Retained For New Vehicles

The thought behind this vehicle number retention policy is brilliant as this is quite a useful policy. It does benefit all the parties involved and allows a greater freedom to vehicle owners. Several developed countries have been allowing this for a while now and it is time for India to follow suit.

For now, only Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal allow for retention of registration numbers. It certainly will be very beneficial for vehicle owners across the country if all states started following the same policy.