The waiting time to get the high security registration plates (HSRP) for vehicles is getting longer in parts of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. For those wanting to get the plates home-delivered, it takes almost a month, say vehicle users. States like Delhi have already started penalising vehicles for not fitting HSRP. The penalty ranges from ₹5,500 to ₹10,000.

The HSRPs are tamper-proof number plates with a uniform font and in-built codes. From November 1, till date, there have been around four lakh bookings for appointments to get HSRP and stickers for all categories of vehicles in Delhi, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), which is responsible for streamlining HSRP .

In a related move, transport officials pointed out that onboarding older vehicles with such “uniform, tamper-proof” number plates will help identify vehicles violating traffic rules and make generating an electronic-challan much easier.

HSRP implementation is not new. The Supreme Court had in 2011, ordered the implementation of such number plates. Some States like Meghalaya had implemented HSRP several years ago.

Owners of newer vehicles need not worry as the vehicles are already pre-fitted with HSRP from the dealer’s end when sold. The codes are captured in the government’s Vahan database as well. Automobile manufacturers and dealers have been given the task of ensuring all old vehicles are fitted with HSRP.

SIAM will be facilitator

Delhi’s Transport & Environment Minister Kailash Gahlot has asked SIAM to take up the responsibility of integrating the websites of three suppliers with that of SIAM.

The provision for the single tab to be provided by SIAM will be an act of facilitation as an aggregator to make it easy for customers.

Delhi, which accounts for a large share of vehicles across the country, has been trying to get all vehicles owners to migrate to HSRP.

The price for each of these number plates vary based on the size, and number plates that are delivered at home are charged extra.

Social media platforms like Twitter are abuzz with grievances regarding HSRPs — with some stating that the suppliers’ website was crashing, and some others getting ‘wrong’ coloured number plate.

The HSRPs, apart from preventing misuse of vehicles and discouraging criminals from fitting incorrect number plates, will also lead to correct number-plate capturing with the use of cameras.

“A lot of number plates have vehicle numbers written in their local language or in cursive writing. All of this makes the capturing the number plate difficult,” said an official.

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