Vehicle Registration Plates of India - Historical Numbering

Historical Numbering

Until the late 1980s (June 30, 1989)', the Indian licence plate system followed the scheme

Where S was the state code (e.g. C for Karnataka since K was allotted to Kerala); AA were letters of the specific RTO; and 1111 was the unique licence plate number. Older vehicles still exhibit this legally valid numbering scheme.

In the early 2000s, the number plate colouring scheme changed from white over black (SAA 1111) to black over white (SAA 1111) for private non-commercial vehicles, and from black over white (SAA 1111) to black over yellow (SAA 1111) for all other vehicles. The usage of the older colour scheme was made illegal after a period during which both styles were tolerated.

When Madhya Pradesh was known as Central Province, all vehicle license plates began with,

• CPZ — For All Government vehicles
• CPP — Central Province Police
• CPX — where "X" represented the district code (for example, vehicles registered in Jabalpur had a registration plate starting with CPJ)

When renamed to Madhya Pradesh,

• MPZ — For All Government vehicles
• MPP — Madhya Pradesh Police
• MPX — where "X" represented the district (for example, vehicles registered in Jabalpur had a registration plate starting with MPJ)