A few months ago, in December 2024, the Maharashtra Government issued an order stipulating that ALL vehicles in the state must now get an HSRP (High Security Registration Plate) fitted to their vehicles. As expected, the initial reaction was panic, because of the extremely tight deadline, March 31, 2025.
This was followed by the Govt. and various RTOs publishing details how vehicle owners could go about this process, along with a list of authorised service providers, and the cost for different types of vehicles.
What exactly is HSRP?
HSRP means High Security Registration Plate, and was introduced in India in 2005.
It is a tamper-proof license plate mandated by the Indian government, and features a chromium-based Ashoka Chakra, laser-etched serial number, and is permanently fixed to your vehicle to prevent theft. The advanced safety features of HSRP make it useful to curb vehicle-related crimes such as counterfeiting, tampering, etc.
Over the years, various states across India have mandated different timeframes for implementation of this on vehicles. In Maharashtra, only vehicles manufactured and registered after April 01, 2019 were fitted with HSRP prior to delivery. Now, the government has said even vehicles registered prior to this date have to get HSRP fitted.
HSRP Online Booking Process
Visit the website of the Motor Vehicles Department, Maharashtra, and select the RTO that is applicable to your vehicle’s registration number, like MH-12 for Pune. This redirects to the website of one of the authorised service providers.
1. Input the vehicle registration number, engine number, chassis number, and your mobile number to verify these details with the VAHAN service.
2. Select the location of the fitment centre based on area/pincode.
3. Select an appointment slot, confirm the booking.
4. Verify if all details are correct, and proceed to pay.
HSRP charges in Pune
In Pune, the rates are as below:
Two-wheelers/tractors: Rs. 531
Three-wheelers: Rs. 590
Four-wheelers: Rs. 879
These rates are inclusive of GST. If you prefer home installation, the rates are higher.
Problems with the HSRP booking
I started this process on February 25, and initially itself, the website threw up an error, asking me to check my Internet connection though it was working fine.
While inputting the address, it refused to proceed due to a special character issue (comma). Customer Care Executive asked me to input the entire address as a single line with spaces. Crazy. How is anyone supposed to know that without any hint or tooltip?
Then, throughout the day, I was unable to get OTPs on my mobile or email id. CC’s response was “Please share your RC “so we can help you out in a better way”.
Tried this next day, it kept giving me “Session timed out” errors. When I finally managed to complete the application and make the payment, I was unable to print the receipt. It kept saying “No receipt file found for this order”. There was an option to “scan to download receipt” but that was also blank, with no QR code, so I took a screenshot as there was no SMS or email sent either.
Then, while checking out all the options on the website, I saw “Reprint Receipt” in the footer, and finally managed to download the receipt PDF. This online receipt was valid till June 22, 2025.
Phew!
Delay and deadline extensions
The appointment slot given was for a month later, on March 25. On reaching there, they told me the plates were not yet ready. Pathetic. One month and still no plates, and worse, no communication at all about this. Unnecessary waste of time on a weekday for a 10am -12pm slot.
The deadline for fitting HSRP was March 31, 2025. Now what?
While the process seemed easy and straightforward, people were facing problems everywhere; portal errors, unable to book appointment slots, issue with cost in Maharashtra v/s other states, and in some cases, the designated centre/s had also shut down, leading to much frustration across the state.
The government said there would be no problem if the payment was made before March 31. They extended the HSRP deadline to June 30, 2025.
HSRP affixing done
Finally, after a couple of weeks, the vendor sent a message via WhatsApp on April 06 saying the plates were ready, and to bring the Appointment Slip and Original RC. I went on April 08 at 10 am.
The place was like a fish market, with at least *100* people there. Absolutely no point in giving an appointment slot.
It took a long time for their 2-3 employees to sift through all the plates and call out the numbers. As they did so, the respective owners took the plates and their vehicles to the adjacent open area. There was a team of 3-4 mechanics to affix the HSRP.
My turn finally came around 11.30 am. They asked me if I wanted those plastic frames/brackets. I thought it might make the area around the plate more sturdy, so opted for it. Rs. 300 for a set of two.
After affixing the HSRP, they returned the old plates to me, took a photo of the new ones to upload in the RTO records, for which I had to provide an OTP. They also fixed a blue HSRP sticker on the windshield (petrol vehicle) which displays the vehicle number, date of registration, and a laser branded permanent identification number.
So finally, after over a month since the booking, the HSRP was fitted to the car.
The lesson for the government here is that before making any such knee-jerk announcements, they should carefully study the feasibility, check availability of the infrastructure, and provide a reasonable time for implementation. A 3 month deadline statewide for something like this was ridiculous.
* The deadlines were extended multiple times since then, and the “finally final” deadline is June 30, 2026, beyond which fines will be collected and vehicle related services may be restricted.
