Goa: RTO code list and details

Each GA number plate is made up of four parts. In the plate GA 01 AB 1234, the letters GA mean Goa and the number 01 means the Panaji office. The next letters are the registration series, and 1234 is the four-digit number given to that vehicle alone.

The code points to the office that registered the car, not to where its owner lives today. A GA-01 car keeps its code when the owner moves within Goa, for example from Panaji to Margao. It gets a new one only after it is registered in another state or its registration details change.

Good to know: Two cars from one Goa town may show different codes. Panaji has GA-01 and GA-07, and Margao has GA-02 and GA-08. Each plate shows the code of the office that did the registration.

A new car bought from a Goa dealer comes with a High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) already fitted, as every new car has since 1 April 2019. The plate is required under Rule 50 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, notified by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in G.S.R. 1162(E) of 4 December 2018 and S.O. 6052 of 6 December 2018.

Older Goa cars without the plate

If your GA car was registered before 1 April 2019, have a High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) fitted by the date the state sets. Use the booking portal named on the Department of Transport, Government of Goa website to book the installation, and look there for the date that applies to your GA car. Do not use a roadside plate maker.

Worth knowing: Rule 50 is a national rule, so a car registered at GA-06 Vasco has the same plate features as one from Maharashtra or Karnataka.

Look up your code in the tables below. Goa RTO codes go from GA-01 to GA-12, with five offices in North Goa and seven in South Goa. Each code marks the office where a vehicle was registered, which may not match where its owner lives today.

Before you visit, confirm the office details with the Department of Transport, Government of Goa, as they can change.

In Goa, a district office and a taluka office can work in the same town. The district office looks after the whole district. The taluka office handles most everyday private registrations, so the town has both codes.

Panaji: GA-01 and GA-07

Two offices share the capital. GA-01 belongs to the North Goa district office and GA-07 to the Tiswadi taluka office at Patto. Most private cars registered in Panaji today get GA-07.

Margao: GA-02 and GA-08

Margao is split in a similar way, with GA-02 for the South Goa district office and GA-08 for the Salcete taluka office. Expect GA-08 on most private cars registered in Margao.

Keep in mind: For insurance, it does not matter which of the two codes is on your car. Insurers price the premium on the car and the city, not on the office that registered it.

Road tax in Goa is paid one time, at the car’s first registration. It is a percentage of the car’s cost and rises with the price, from 9% on cars up to ₹10 lakhs to 15% on cars above ₹20 lakhs, and no car pays more than ₹15 lakhs in total.

For example: At ₹5 lakhs, a car pays 9%, or ₹45,000 in road tax. At ₹15 lakhs the rate is 12%, which comes to ₹1,80,000. Whatever the price, the tax on one car stops at ₹15 lakhs. On a new car, the dealer usually adds this to the on-road price and collects it.

Goa Infrastructure Development Cess on costlier cars

If your car costs more than ₹10 lakhs, Goa also charges a one-time cess at registration. It is a fixed amount, not a percentage, and you pay it on top of the road tax.

Pay road tax through the Department of Transport, Government of Goa, or on the Vahan citizen services portal. Check the amount Vahan shows before paying, as the state fixes the rates and they can change.

Pay these fees on Vahan or at the counter of your GA office when you register, renew or change a Registration Certificate (RC). They come from Rule 81 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, so the base amount is the same at GA-01 Panaji as at GA-10 Canacona.

Not in this table: The HSRP, the Goa road tax and cess, and any service charge the state adds are paid on their own. Vahan lists every line before you confirm the payment.

The dealer handles registration for most new private cars in Goa, filing it on the Vahan portal. You pay road tax and the registration fee with the car’s price. The Registration Certificate (RC) is issued to you once the RTO approves it.

Some cases need document checks, an inspection or an RTO visit, depending on the vehicle and the transaction. Most new cars follow the steps above, but treat them as a general guide.

Before delivery day: You can buy car insurance yourself. To register the car, the dealer needs only a valid policy, so take time to compare plans first.

Take the sale to the GA office printed on the RC, or apply on Vahan, and the car moves into the buyer’s name. A car registered at GA-03 Mapusa is transferred by the Mapusa office, even if the buyer lives in Vasco.

Removing a loan (hypothecation) from the RC in Goa

Paid the last instalment on a GA car? Collect the lender’s No Objection Certificate and a signed Form 35, then apply on Vahan to remove the hypothecation. The Goa RTO then issues an updated RC with the loan taken off.

Good to know: Form 34 does the opposite job. The bank or lender uses it to enter a loan on the RC when a car in Goa is bought on finance.

For most RTO work, Goa relies on the national Parivahan services. Vehicle work such as registration, the RC, tax and ownership is done on the Vahan portal. Licence work is done on the Sarathi portal. Vehicle details and challans are on mParivahan and the e-challan service.

Not every service is fully online, and this can vary by transaction and by RTO.

Duplicate RC and RC status check in Goa

Lost the RC, or found it stolen or damaged? Apply for a duplicate with Form 26 on Vahan, and pay the duplicate RC fee shown in the fees table. To see where a GA registration stands, check RC status on Parivahan Sewa or mParivahan, or check your RC status with Kiwi Insurance.

Driving licence services in Goa

Use Sarathi for every licence step in Goa: The learner’s licence, the driving test, renewal of a licence and an International Driving Permit. Form 2 and Form 4A in the forms grid are the paper versions.

Enter your GA number on the Parivahan e-challan portal to see any challan against your car, and pay the amount it shows. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 fixes the fines below, but Goa can compound some offences at its own amounts.

Check and pay e-challans on echallan.parivahan.gov.in or in the mParivahan app. The challan, not this table, is the final word on what a GA vehicle owes.

Keep in mind: The ₹2,000 fine for driving uninsured is the one a current policy prevents outright. Renew the policy before it expires, and you will not face this fine.

Check the current process with the RTO or Parivahan Sewa before you start, as documents and steps differ by vehicle, state and RTO. If you are leaving Goa for another state, you go through these steps in the opposite order. Get the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from your GA office, register the car in the new state and pay the tax there, then claim a refund of the unused Goa tax here.

A Bharat series (BH) number is one registration that works in all states, with no Goa or other state code on the plate. If you move to another state, you do not need a No Objection Certificate (NOC) or a new number there. It suits people whose jobs keep moving them between states, and you can ask your dealer in Panaji or Margao for one instead of a GA number.

The scheme started with Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) notification G.S.R. 594(E) of 26 August 2021 and came into force on 15 September 2021. A second notification, G.S.R. 879(E) of 14 December 2022, made it possible to transfer a Bharat series (BH) vehicle and to convert an existing registration.

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.

Compared with Goa: A GA car pays its 9% to 15% road tax once, at first registration, while a BH car pays its rate in 2-year blocks.

Keep in mind: When you are posted out of Goa, a BH car needs no No Objection Certificate and no new registration in the next state, and there is no Goa tax refund to claim.

Goa uses national forms, set under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, and most of them are now filled in online on Vahan or Sarathi. Each form also has a PDF, which you can print if an office still needs a paper copy.

For a used car sale, seller and buyer fill in Form 29 and Form 30 together. Then, with the RC in the buyer’s name, move the insurance across within 14 days.

Before you submit: Go to the RTO that matches the code on your RC, for example GA-01 in Panaji or GA-03 in Mapusa. Check the document list on the Parivahan Sewa website first, as address proof or a Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate may also be needed. Anything not listed here is on the full RTO form list on the Parivahan Sewa website.

Keep in mind: Aim to complete both transfers, at the RTO and with the insurer, within the same two weeks. That way the car stays fully covered from the day it changes hands.