Here’s Why Indian Vehicles Have Different Coloured Number Plates.!!

All the motorised road vehicles in India should have a number plate on the front and back of the vehicle. The other name for the number plate is Vehicle registration plate. These are issued by district-level Regional Transport Office (RTO). You might have observed different types of number plates. So have you ever wondered why they are different in colour? Well! there are 6 types of number plates which are used in India.


So let’s take a look at them.

1. White number plate
All private vehicles will have white numbered plate with black text. These are the vehicles which common people use.

2. Yellow number plate
All commercial vehicles like autos, taxis and trucks will have a yellow plate with black text.

3. Black plate with yellow lettering
These kind of vehicles are commercial vehicles that are available on rent for self-drive. Zoomcar & Justride startups come under this category.

4. Red number plate
Test vehicles will have the red numbered plate with white text. Vehicle manufacturers use red number plates while testing and promotion of their new vehicle.

5. Number plate with upward arrow
All the military vehicles will have a unique numbering system. These vehicles are registered under Ministry of Defence in New Delhi. (Most) Military vehicles will have a black number plate with white text on it. The 1st / 3rd character will be an upward pointing arrow known as Broad arrow.

6. Blue number plate
All the foreign mission vehicles will have blue number plates with white text. These number plates will have special codes like UN, CC or CD which means United Nations, Consular Corps, Diplomatic Corps respectively.





The number following UN, CD or CC refers to the country (as given in the list below)