Since December, 2013, the fixation of high security registration plates (HSRP) for new vehicles has been implemented in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. And after June 8, 2014, once Telangana was carved out as a separate State, the drive only intensified.
Ever since, HSRPs are fixed at 54 offices of the Road Transport Authority and at an average of about 3,500 a day, an estimated 17 lakh such plates have been fixed to new vehicles, according to a senior RTA official. Basically, the rule says that a HSRP shall be a solid unit of one mm thick aluminium conforming to ISO 7591 standards, with an embossed border. As for its implementation, once the registration process is completed after due inspection of the vehicle, the owners receive an SMS over their mobile phones about three to four days later, asking them to come to the designated centre to have the HSRP fixed. And it is this factor, of going over to RTA offices that are already crowded that is being considered an irritant.
Vamsikrishna, a techie who bought a multi utility vehicle - a Maruti Ertiga, is a busy man. If taking a day off for the registration itself is a problem, a second visit is a tougher proposition what with the authorities asking him to come to the same RTA office between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to have the plates fixed, in accordance with Rule 51 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules.
Designated centres
Considering the searing heat of the summer, going to an RTA office in the afternoon and standing in a long queue is sheer hell, vehicle owners aver. However, it is an unavoidable experience that they must endure, is what officials say.
As for Greater Hyderabad, there are five designated centres where HSRPs are fixed and on an average the number of registrations range between 1,000 to 1,400 a day.
The actual process of fixing the plates takes just a couple of minutes with each plate having two rivets - in the front and rear. The plates come with a chromium-based hologram and a laser code and are applied by hot stamping process only, to avoid counterfeiting. The snap locks are non-removeable/non-re-usable, which means that in the event of the number plate breaking, the vehicle owner has to go back to the RTA office to get a fresh one.
