Get high security registration plates or face penalty, Ghaziabad transport dept to 4L vehicle owners

Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Hapur and Bulandshahr are under the Ghaziabad regional transport office; offenders will be fined ₹5,000

Nearly 400,000 vehicles under the jurisdiction of the Ghaziabad regional transport department do not have high security registration plates (HSRPs), and the owners/drivers may face penalty if they fail to do so by September 30 -- deadline set by the Uttar Pradesh government, said officials on Tuesday.

A view of the entrance of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) Bulandshahr Road Industrial Area in Ghaziabad. Vehicles registered before April 1, 2019, must get HSRPs at the earliest. Those registered after the mentioned date already come with HSRPs. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The vendors have the capacity, said officials of the regional transport department in Ghaziabad, adding that awareness programmes are being conducted prior to the initiation of enforcement against erring vehicles. Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Hapur and Bulandshahr come under the jurisdiction of the Ghaziabad regional transport department.

“We have nearly 600,000 such vehicles in our region, and only 200,000 vehicles have HSRPs. We have requested the owners to get the HSRPs before September 30, 2021, otherwise offenders will have to pay a penalty of ₹5,000,” said Arun Kumar, regional transport officer (RTO).

“Vehicles registered before April 1, 2019, must get HSRPs at the earliest. Those registered after the mentioned date already come with HSRPs. As of now, nearly 30-35% vehicles have HSRPs, and the remaining must get HSRPs by September 30. Our vendors have a capacity of installing 25,000-50,000 such plates a day, but the demand is lesser nowadays,” Kumar added.

If a vehicle owner can produce a proof/document showing that he/she applied for a HSRP, no penalty will be issued against the person.

AK Pandey, assistant regional transport officer (ARTO-Administration), Gautam Budh Nagar, said, “We urge the people to get the HSRPs as soon as possible. The traffic police and the transport department will start an enforcement drive immediately after the deadline.”

HSRPs are tamper-proof, as compared to the conventional number plates, and prevents counterfeiting of number plates too, said the officials. Information like engine number, chassis number, among others are required to issue such plates. A person can get a HSRP by making a booking through www.siam.in -- official website of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers -- and the process usually takes up to three days, they added.

Showrooms selling vehicles said that the demand for HSRPs has been declining, but may pick up with the commencement of the enforcement.

Manish Shrivastava, general manager (sales) of Ace Honda in Noida Sector 11, said that he usually gets seven to eight bookings for HSRP per day. “Even two months ago, the bookings went up to 150 per day. We feel the numbers are likely to rise once the enforcement starts,” he said.