A draft amendment to the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, published in the Extraordinary Gazette on June 19, proposes a complete overhaul of the fee structure for advance and government-reserved registration numbers, marking the first major revision since 2012.

Currently, registration numbers are allotted randomly when a vehicle is registered. Owners seeking a specific number within 1,000 numbers of the running series can obtain it through the Regional Transport Office (RTO) by paying a prescribed fee.

The draft further proposes to replace the existing flat-rate structure for fancy numbers allotted by RTOs with a value-based fee mechanism. For two-wheelers and three-wheelers, charges would range from Rs 2,000 for vehicles costing up to Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh for vehicles valued above Rs 30 lakh.

The fees for imported vehicles would range from Rs 20,000 for vehicles valued up to Rs 4 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh for those costing more than Rs 50 lakh – up from the existing range of Rs 1,000-Rs 16,000.

For numbers beyond the running series, future series numbers, and government-reserved fancy numbers, approval from the state government is required.

Under the proposed rules, the fee for securing a number in the current series and the next three series would double: Rs 1.2 lakh for numbers in the fifth to eighth series; Rs 2 lakh for the ninth and tenth series; and Rs 4 lakh for the eleventh and twelfth future series.

The government has also proposed a new category for registration numbers in the 13th and 14th future series, fixing the fee at Rs 8 lakh.

The draft notification also replaces the existing flat-rate system for fancy numbers allotted by RTOs with a value-based fee structure. For two-wheelers and three-wheelers, charges would range from Rs 2,000 to Rs 1 lakh depending on the vehicle's value.

Imported cars and other imported vehicles would attract fees ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh under the proposed slab system.