Even though it is ten days since the transport department notified that it was mandatory for owners of old vehicles that were registered in combined Andhra Pradesh to change their number plates from AP to TS and also carry the concerned district code, the modalities are yet to be released.
This has led to mixed feelings among people of 10 districts of Telangana because the government order says a timeframe of not less than four months would be given to effect the change. There are an estimated 74 lakh vehicles registered in erstwhile AP, before June 2. So when the order was issued, the department deemed it fit that owners went through this number change and have the high-security registration plates (HSRPs) affixed, once and for all.
Even after almost five years that the Supreme Court recommended HSRPs for vehicles, not many vehicle owners knew what actually they meant and the benefits that accrued from them. They are made of special aluminium with a retro-reflective sheet and come with a chromium-based hologram and a unique laser code. Most importantly, they come with a non-reusable snap lock that is not re-usable once removed or broken.
Use of HSRPs will prevent people from using false number plates, thus bringing down thefts and instances of using them in committing further crimes. Also, the HSRPs are intended to usher in uniformity in font and number system and also help track vehicles. Intervention by the Apex court pushed the State Governments to make it mandatory for new vehicles to have HSRPs but the bone of contention is about the ‘in-use’, or old vehicles.
A significant doubt being raised is whether Link Auto Tech, the sole agency entrusted with the task of making, embossing and affixing HSRPs had the wherewithal to handle the 74 lakh vehicles or not. When contacted, Sridhar Kumar, who heads AP and TS operations for the agency, said they had more than enough capacity to handle the transition. He also said there were already a whopping 90,000 HSRPs embossed with numbers that vehicle owners were yet to collect.
