CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government has proposed a steep increase in fees for fancy and advance vehicle registration numbers, including a new premium category that would allow vehicle owners to secure registration numbers from far-ahead future series for as much as ₹8 lakh.
The proposal is part of a draft amendment to the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, published in the Extraordinary Gazette on June 19. The revised fee structure, if approved, would represent the first major overhaul of charges for preferred registration numbers in over a decade.
Currently, vehicle registration numbers are allotted randomly at the time of registration. Owners who wish to obtain a specific number can apply through Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) by paying a prescribed fee. The proposed amendment seeks to revise these charges substantially and introduce a more structured fee mechanism.
Under the new proposal, the cost of securing preferred numbers from future registration series would rise sharply. Fees for numbers in the current series and the next three upcoming series would be doubled. Vehicle owners seeking numbers in the fifth to eighth future series would have to pay ₹1.2 lakh, while those opting for numbers in the ninth and tenth future series would be charged ₹2 lakh.
The fee would increase further to ₹4 lakh for registration numbers in the eleventh and twelfth future series. In a new category proposed by the government, numbers in the thirteenth and fourteenth future series would attract a premium charge of ₹8 lakh.
The draft notification also proposes replacing the existing flat-rate system for fancy numbers allotted by RTOs with a value-based fee structure linked to the cost of the vehicle. For two-wheelers and three-wheelers, charges would range from ₹2,000 for vehicles valued up to ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh for those costing more than ₹30 lakh.
Imported vehicles would also face higher charges, with fees ranging from ₹20,000 to ₹1.5 lakh depending on their value. State government approval would continue to be mandatory for allotment of future-series and government-reserved fancy registration numbers under the proposed rules.
