Andaman and Nicobar: RTO code list and details

Read from left to right, an AN plate has four parts. In AN 01 AB 1234, AN stands for the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 01 is the office in Sri Vijaya Puram, AB is the letter series, and 1234 is the four-digit number given to that vehicle alone.

The two digits after AN show which office registered the car, whichever island the owner lives on now. If you move to another island, your AN code stays the same. You get a new code only when the car is re-registered outside the union territory or its registration details are changed.

Worth knowing: Almost every vehicle in the islands carries AN-01, since the Andaman districts hold most of the population. AN-02 belongs to Car Nicobar, which is a long way south.

Getting an HSRP fitted on an older car in Andaman and Nicobar

If your car was registered before 1 April 2019, it needs a High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) fitted by the date the union territory administration sets. You book the installation yourself on the booking portal that the Directorate of Transport website names, and the same site shows the date for your AN car.

Worth knowing: A car from Car Nicobar keeps AN-02 on its new plate, and a car from Port Blair keeps AN-01. Only the plate is replaced, not the registration number.

The AN code list is one of the shortest in India. Two offices serve the whole union territory, with AN-01 covering the Andaman districts and AN-02 the Nicobar district.

A few published lists mention further AN codes, but only these two are reported consistently. Check the office named on your Registration Certificate if yours shows something else.

The Directorate of Transport on Tagore Road is the main office for the islands, issuing AN-01 registrations for the Andaman districts. It handles registration, licensing, permits and road tax.

Car Nicobar, AN-02, serves the Nicobar district, which sits several hundred kilometres to the south and is reached by ship or by the island flight.

The capital was renamed Sri Vijaya Puram in 2024. Most people, and most published lists, still call it Port Blair, so you will see both names against the same office and the same AN-01 code.

What the renaming means for your AN plate

Nothing. The code did not change with the name, so vehicles registered before and after the renaming all carry AN-01.

What it means for your paperwork

Your Registration Certificate and your insurance policy carry the registration number, not the city name, so neither needs changing when the city name changes.

Worth knowing: If you move house within the islands, update the address on your Registration Certificate and inform your insurer. That matters more than the name of the city.

The islands charge a one-time tax on the invoice price of the car, covering 15 years. What you pay depends on who registers it and whether the car is new.

For example: A car costing ₹6 lakhs registered as your first vehicle in your own name pays 6%, which is ₹36,000. Bought as a second vehicle, or in a company name, the same car pays 8%, which is ₹48,000, so who the owner is makes a real difference here.

You pay the tax under the vehicle tax service on Parivahan Sewa, or at the AN office that registers the car. Look at the amount Vahan shows before paying, as the administration sets the rates and can revise them.

At the AN-01 counter in Sri Vijaya Puram or the AN-02 office on Car Nicobar, you pay a service fee on top of the road tax, and that fee is fixed nationally under Rule 81 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. Registering a new car and getting its Registration Certificate (RC) costs ₹600 in either office.

Budget separately for the High Security Registration Plate (HSRP), the road tax and any service charge the administration adds, as none of them is part of this table.

Worth knowing: Note the date 15 years after registration. A private car RC is valid for that long, then renews 5 years at a time, and each month of delay adds ₹500.

Buy a new private car on the islands and, in most cases, the dealer files the registration on the Vahan portal for you. The road tax and registration fee are paid with the price of the car, and the RTO sends the Registration Certificate (RC) after approving the application.

Some cars still need a document check, an inspection or a visit to the AN office, depending on the vehicle and the transaction. Treat these steps as the common route rather than a rule.

Important to know: You are free to buy the policy yourself before the car is delivered. The dealer needs only proof of valid insurance to register it, so you can compare quotes in advance.

Removing a loan (hypothecation) from the RC in Andaman and Nicobar

Once you pay the last instalment, ask the lender for a No Objection Certificate (NOC) and Form 35. Submit both on Vahan, and the RTO issues an updated RC with the loan removed. Form 34 works the other way, recording a loan on the RC when you first take one.

From Port Blair or a far island, you start most RTO work online on the national Parivahan services. Vehicle work such as registration, the RC, tax and ownership goes through the Vahan portal, licence work goes through the Sarathi portal, and mParivahan with the e-challan service shows vehicle details and challans.

You may still need to visit the office in Sri Vijaya Puram or Car Nicobar for some tasks, depending on the service.

Duplicate RC and RC status check in Andaman and Nicobar

If your RC goes missing in transit, is stolen or gets damaged, apply for a duplicate on Form 26 and pay the ₹300 car fee listed in the fees table. To follow that application, or to confirm any AN registration, look up the RC status on Parivahan Sewa or mParivahan, or check your RC status on Kiwi Insurance.

Driving licence services in Andaman and Nicobar

Apply for a learner’s licence on Sarathi and book the driving test there once it is issued. Renewals and the International Driving Permit, which you need to drive abroad, go through Sarathi as well.

When you receive a challan on the islands, the amount starts from the national schedule in the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019. The administration can compound some offences at its own amounts, so the challan itself shows what you owe.

To find a challan on an AN number, open the Parivahan e-challan portal, echallan.parivahan.gov.in, or the mParivahan app, and pay it there without a trip to the office.

Worth knowing: Of the fines above, the one for driving uninsured, ₹2,000 and then ₹4,000, is the one a valid policy avoids. The car insurance section shows how that policy connects to your AN registration.

Check the current document list with the RTO or on the Parivahan Sewa website before you ship the car, as it can differ by vehicle, state and office. If you are leaving the islands with the car for good, you follow the same steps the other way round: You get the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from your AN office, register in the new state, pay tax there and claim the unused tax back here.

A Bharat series (BH) number plate is a national registration that you can choose instead of an AN code when you buy the car. It has no state or union territory code, so after a move you need no No Objection Certificate (NOC) and no new registration, which suits staff whose jobs bring them to the islands and take them away again. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) introduced it in G.S.R. 594(E) of 26 August 2021, in force from 15 September 2021, and G.S.R. 879(E) of 14 December 2022 extended it to ownership transfer and to converting existing registrations.

Check your employer before you apply. Central and state government employees, defence personnel and public sector employees qualify, and so do private sector employees whose employer has offices in 4 or more states or union territories.

The format is YY BH #### XX, where YY is the year of first registration, the four digits are allotted at random, and XX represents the alphabetic series, which can be a single letter or two letters. It is black on a white plate, like any other private car.

How it compares: Register a first car in your own name with an AN number and you pay the union territory’s one-time 6% of the invoice price for 15 years, while a BH number costs 8% to 12% of the price, paid in 2-year blocks.

Pick the form for your task, read what it does, and download it from the Parivahan Sewa website

You fill in the same national forms on the islands as anywhere in India, since the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 set them. Most can be completed online on Vahan or Sarathi, and you can print the PDF if an office still wants the form on paper.

If you sell a used car, you need Form 29 and Form 30 as a pair. From the day the RC shows the new owner, the buyer has 14 days to move the insurance across.

Worth knowing: Send each form to the office whose code is on your RC: AN-01 in Sri Vijaya Puram or AN-02 on Car Nicobar. Before you take a ferry or flight to that office, read the document list on the Parivahan Sewa website, as address proof or a Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate may be asked for. A form missing from these cards will be on the full forms list on the Parivahan Sewa website.

How your policy connects to the RTO in Andaman and Nicobar

Buy the policy before the car is registered, as the AN office registers a new car only once valid insurance is in place. When you buy a used AN car, move the policy into your name within 14 days of the change of owner. If the car is later re-registered, or you move, inform your insurer of the new number so the policy matches the RC.

Worth knowing: Once the AN office records the sale, contact the insurer the same week. Doing both in one fortnight leaves no day on which the car is driven uninsured.