How to read a vehicle number plate in India: state, RTO, series and number
The short answer. MH 12 AB 1234 reads in four parts: MH is the state, Maharashtra; 12 is the registering office, Pune; AB is the series; and 1234 is the number, from 0001 to 9999. India uses 36 state and union territory codes. A Bharat series plate such as 22 BH 1234 AA shows the registration year instead of a state.
Every Indian registration number is built to a pattern fixed under the Motor Vehicles Act, so once you know the four parts you can read most plates on the road. The plate tells you where the vehicle was first registered. It does not tell you who owns it, and nothing that only reads the number can.
The four parts
| Part | Example | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| State or UT code | MH | Two letters for the state or union territory, allotted by the central government |
| Office code | 12 | The registering office, usually a Regional or District Transport Office, that first registered the vehicle |
| Series | AB | Up to three letters. When the numbers 0001 to 9999 run out, the next series starts; I and O are skipped so they are not confused with 1 and 0 |
| Number | 1234 | The vehicle's number within the series, 0001 to 9999 |
Worked examples
Each of these was read with the Vehicle Number RTO Decoder:
| Plate | State or UT | Registering office | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| MH 12 AB 1234 | Maharashtra | Pune | The standard pattern |
| KA 01 MJ 2024 | Karnataka | Bengaluru Central | 2024 is the number, not a year |
| TN 07 CQ 5566 | Tamil Nadu | Chennai (South) | |
| DL 04 C 1969 | Delhi | West (Hari Nagar) | C means a private car |
| TS 09 AB 1234 | Telangana | Hyderabad (Central Zone) | TS is a former code; new plates use TG |
| 22 BH 1234 AA | none | none | Bharat series, registered in 2022 |
Spaces, hyphens and lower case make no difference: mh12ab1234 reads the same as MH 12 AB 1234. To see every office in a state, the RTO code list page lists them by state and union territory.
Delhi plates carry the vehicle class
In Delhi the letter right after the zonal office code is the vehicle class. The Delhi Transport Department gives DL 04 C 1969 as its own example: zonal office 04, C for a car, number 1969. The other class letters:
| Letter | Vehicle class |
|---|---|
| C | Car (private) |
| S | Two-wheeler (private) |
| P | Bus |
| V | Bus or maxi cab |
| G | Goods vehicle (truck) |
| L | Goods vehicle or delivery van |
| R | Autorickshaw |
| T | Taxi |
| RT, RX, RY | Radio taxi |
| Y, Z | Tourist taxi or rent-a-cab |
| ER, EC | E-rickshaw, e-cart |
Any letters after the class letter are the running series. Delhi's zonal office codes run from 01 to 13.
Bharat series plates have no state
Since 15 September 2021, a number such as 22 BH 1234 AA has been available under G.S.R. 594(E) of 26 August 2021:
- 22: the last two digits of the year of first registration, here 2022;
- BH: Bharat series;
- 1234: a number from 0001 to 9999, generated at random by the VAHAN portal;
- AA: one or two letters, A to Z and then AA to ZZ, skipping I and O.
Because the number carries no state or RTO code, the owner keeps it after moving to another state, and no decoder can say where the vehicle was registered. It is open to defence personnel, employees of the Central and State Governments and public sector undertakings, and private-sector employees whose employer has offices in four or more states or union territories. Motor vehicle tax is paid for two years, or a multiple of two years, at a time. Since G.S.R. 879(E) of 14 December 2022, a BH vehicle can be sold to anyone, and a vehicle with a regular number can convert to BH on paying the tax. The BH series page opens with a BH number ready to read.
Codes that have changed
Older plates still carry codes that are no longer issued:
| Old code | Now | When |
|---|---|---|
| TS | TG (Telangana) | MoRTH replaced TS with TG on 12 March 2024 |
| DN | DD (Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu) | From 26 January 2020, when the two union territories merged (S.O. 295(E)) |
| OR | OD (Odisha) | 2012, after Orissa was renamed Odisha |
| UA | UK (Uttarakhand) | 2007, after Uttaranchal was renamed Uttarakhand |
The OR and UA changes come from a secondary source, Wikipedia; the others are from government notifications.
If the decoder cannot place the number
- "Office code not in its list". Some codes are new, used only for police or government vehicles, or for a special series. The state is still named. Check for a mistyped digit first.
- The office is marked as secondary. That name comes from Wikipedia's list of RTO districts, used only where the transport ministry's own VAHAN office list has no entry. Treat it as likely, not certain.
- You need the owner, insurance or challans. A number plate does not contain them. Official vehicle details are available only through the government's Parivahan and VAHAN services, under their own rules.
Questions people ask
How do I find which state a vehicle number is from?
Read the first two letters. Each state and union territory has its own code under the Motor Vehicles Act: MH is Maharashtra, DL is Delhi, KA is Karnataka and TN is Tamil Nadu. India uses 36 codes today. The digits after the letters are the registering office, so MH 12 is Pune and KA 01 is Bengaluru Central.
What does the number after the state code mean?
It is the code of the registering office, usually a Regional or District Transport Office, that first registered the vehicle. In MH 12 AB 1234, 12 is Pune; in TN 07 CQ 5566, 07 is Chennai (South). In Delhi it is a zonal office from 01 to 13, so DL 04 is West (Hari Nagar).
What does BH mean on a number plate?
BH stands for Bharat series, a national registration introduced by G.S.R. 594(E) of 26 August 2021. A number such as 22 BH 1234 AA shows the year of registration, BH, a random four-digit number and one or two letters. It carries no state code, so the owner keeps the same number after moving to another state.
What does the letter after the code mean in a Delhi number?
Delhi puts the vehicle class right after the zonal office code. In DL 04 C 1969, 04 is the West zone office at Hari Nagar and C means a private car. S marks a two-wheeler, P a bus, R an autorickshaw, T a taxi, and Y or Z a tourist taxi or rent-a-cab.
Can I find the owner of a vehicle from its number plate?
Not from the plate itself. The number only shows the state, the registering office, the series and the number. Owner names, addresses, insurance and challans sit in the government's VAHAN database, available through the official Parivahan services under their own rules. A decoder that only reads the number's format cannot show any of them.
Sources
Checked 29 Sep 2026:
- Telangana Transport Department: registration state codes (S.O. 444(E) of 12 June 1989: the standard format and the I and O rule)
- Ministry of Road Transport and Highways: VAHAN 4 dashboard (the 36 state and union territory codes and the registering office names)
- Delhi Transport Department: vehicle registration (zonal office codes and vehicle class letters)
- G.S.R. 594(E), 26 August 2021, Central Motor Vehicles (Twentieth Amendment) Rules 2021 (Bharat series), and G.S.R. 879(E), 14 December 2022 (BH sale and conversion)
- Secondary, as marked above: Wikipedia, "Vehicle registration plates of India" and "List of Regional Transport Office districts in India"