Ambala RTO: HR-01 City and HR-85 Cantt codes, as listed

Ambala is two towns as far as number plates go. HR-01 is the code listed for the office at Ambala City and HR-85 for the one at Ambala Cantt, and Naraingarh and Barara in the same district have their own listed codes, as does commercial traffic under HR-37.

Break HR 01 AB 1234 into four and it describes an Ambala City car. HR is Haryana’s code, 01 is the code listed for the Ambala City office, AB is the series of letters, and 1234 is the four-digit number.

Worth knowing: A car from the Cantt shows 85 in place of 01, and either code stays put when the owner crosses from the Cantt to the City or leaves for Karnal, as an Ambala number changes only if the car is re-registered outside Haryana or its registration details are changed.

An Ambala car bought new on or after 1 April 2019 already wears a High Security Registration Plate (HSRP), fitted by the dealer when it was delivered.

Worth knowing: Pre-2019 HR-01 and HR-85 cars have the plate installed after a booking on the booking portal named on the Haryana Transport Department website, which shows the HR date as well. What an HSRP must carry is on our Haryana RTO guide.

Ambala district has five listed codes: HR-01 for the City, HR-85 for the Cantt, HR-37 for commercial vehicles, and HR-04 and HR-54 for Naraingarh and Barara. Panchkula and Yamunanagar codes get linked to Ambala, but both are separate districts now.

Directories put the Ambala City office in the Mini Secretariat and the Cantt office in Ambala Cantt without a street address. With no official Haryana address list available, confirm both addresses with the City or Cantt office, or on the Haryana Transport Department website. Neither the City nor the Cantt office has its timings confirmed by an official source, so ask the office you need before making the journey.

Ambala Cantt office, HR-85

Directories list the SDM office of Ambala Cantonment for HR-85 but give no street address, and the pincode one of them prints belongs to another district. Confirm where the Cantt counter is before you go, using 133001 as the Cantt pincode.

Commercial vehicles, HR-37

Public code lists give HR-37 for Ambala’s commercial vehicles, while one directory labels it the Cantt SDM office. Check the code on your RC; a car owned by an individual in the Cantt should normally carry HR-85.

Naraingarh and Barara, HR-04 and HR-54

Naraingarh (HR-04) and Barara (HR-54) are sub-divisions of Ambala district with their own listed codes. One directory places the Barara office in Barara with the pincode 133201; no address is given for Naraingarh.

Which Ambala code you get depends on the town on your RC. Ambala City addresses point to the listed HR-01 and Ambala Cantt addresses to HR-85, and the Naraingarh and Barara sub-divisions have offices of their own. In the absence of an official list of areas per office, the town on your RC is the guide.

Holding an Ambala number already? Type it, HR01AB1234 for instance, into the finder at the top to see which town’s office the code is listed for.

Worth knowing: Moving between the Cantt and the City does not swap HR-85 for HR-01. The only paperwork is the RC address, and your insurer needs to be informed once it is done.

Whether the car is registered at the City or the Cantt, Ambala charges the Haryana road tax: A one-time percentage of the price, in three bands for cars and three for two-wheelers. The rate for a car for personal use is the same for an individual and for a company.

For example: An Ambala Cantt buyer of a ₹5 lakh car pays 5%, so the road tax on the HR-85 registration is ₹25,000, a single payment.

City or Cantt, the RTO fee is the same, as the amounts are national and Patiala across the border charges them too. They are paid on Vahan, and a showroom collects them with a new car’s price.

For example: A new car bought on a loan and registered at HR-01 runs up ₹2,300 in fees: ₹600 to register it, ₹200 for the smart card RC and ₹1,500 for recording the loan, with road tax extra.

An Ambala car aged 15 renews for ₹5,000, and one older than 20 for ₹10,000. The penalty for renewing late is ₹500 a month on a car and ₹300 a month on a motorcycle.

The dealer applies on Vahan; a City or Cantt address decides the code

An Ambala showroom registers a new car on Vahan with the office for your address. Give an Ambala Cantt address and the car should come out with HR-85; an Ambala City address should mean HR-01.

An Ambala sale goes to the office that holds the car’s record, so an HR-85 car goes back to the Cantt. The seller fills Form 29, the two sides sign Form 30 on Vahan, and the fee is ₹300 for a car or ₹150 for a motorcycle.

Then, within 14 days, the buyer should get the insurance transferred to their name.

Lifting hypothecation from an Ambala RC

When the finance is cleared, Form 35 and the lender’s NOC go on Vahan and the hypothecation is cancelled with no fee, and our Haryana RTO guide has the checklist.

Ambala work begins on two portals. The Vahan portal is for the car, the Sarathi portal for the licence, and either way the file goes to the City, the Cantt or the town office for your address.

Duplicate RC and RC status check in Ambala

If the RC of an HR-01 or HR-85 car is lost, apply on Form 26 for a duplicate RC and pay the fee from the fees table. The Kiwi Insurance RC status check shows whether an Ambala record is active.

Driving licence services in Ambala

Licences for Ambala residents are applied for on Sarathi, which also books the test slot at your office; the licence services are listed on our Haryana RTO guide.

Search an HR-01 or HR-85 number on echallan.parivahan.gov.in, or in the mParivahan app, to see any Ambala challan and pay it.

Fines for other offences, from jumping a red light to riding without a helmet, are on our Haryana RTO guide.

Ambala borders Punjab, and a car brought in on PB, CH or other outside plates owes Haryana tax 30 days after it starts being kept in Ambala. HR registration is due once it has been kept here for more than 12 months, whereas a car from Karnal or Hisar simply gets its RC address changed.

If you are leaving Haryana with an Ambala car, ask the City or Cantt office for the NOC on Form 28 and register the car in the new state.

Worth knowing: The day the RC gets an Ambala address, and again when it gets an HR number, inform your insurer. Our Haryana RTO guide has the papers for both.

Ambala buyers in jobs with postings across states, defence staff among them, can take a Bharat series (BH) number in place of HR-01 or HR-85, so the car is not re-registered after each transfer.

For those in private jobs, Form 60 from the employer, showing offices in 4 or more states or union territories, goes to the Ambala dealer. 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.

For the BH tax, due every 2 years, read our Haryana RTO guide.

Ambala applications are mostly made on the Vahan portal or the Sarathi portal, and a printed form only matters when the City or Cantt office asks for paper.

When each form is used is set out on our Haryana RTO guide. For others, open the RTO forms on the Parivahan Sewa website.

How insurance links to the Ambala RTO

A valid policy is a condition of registration at the Ambala offices. After a sale, the RC moves to the buyer first and the policy must follow within 14 days, and if the RC address or number changes, inform your insurer so the records agree.