For the first time, Pune RTO to switch to 3-letter vehicle registration as MH-12 series nears exhaustion

How the registration system works

Vehicle registration in India follows a standard format governed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) and managed through the National Informatics Centre (NIC). The format – State Code, RTO Code, Alphabet Series, and a four-digit number – was designed to accommodate a progressively expanding pool of registrations.

For Pune, this means a vehicle goes from MH-12 A 0001 (single letter) to MH-12 AA 0001 (two letters), and eventually to MH-12 AAA 0001 (three letters) once all prior combinations are exhausted. Each series runs from 0001 to 9999.

As of the end of February, the city had 43,55,380 registered vehicles – including 29,88,810 motorcycles, 9,19,961 motor cars, 1,42,197 autorickshaws, and 22,196 buses, among other categories. A surge in vehicle sales driven by the festive season and auspicious occasions has accelerated the pace at which registration numbers are being consumed, prompting the RTO to begin planning for the transition.

What happens next

Swapnil Bhosale, Deputy Regional Transport Officer, Pune, told The Indian Express, “Discussions are ongoing with the State Transport Department, and a final proposal will soon be submitted to implement the new system. Currently, the ‘ZG’ series is going on, and the two-alphabet series will end in roughly three to four months. In the meantime, we will get the proposal approved from NIC and enforce the new three-letter series consequently.”