Devanahalli RTO: KA-43 code and its ARTO office

Cars registered at the ARTO carry plates like KA 43 AB 1234. KA is the code for Karnataka, 43 is the Devanahalli office, AB is the series of letters it was issued from, and 1234 is the four-digit number.

Worth knowing: Once fixed at the first registration, the 43 stays on the car whether its owner moves to Mysuru or into Bengaluru city, and for a Devanahalli car it changes only if the car is re-registered outside Karnataka or its registration details are changed.

From 1 April 2019, every new KA-43 car has been handed over with its High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) in place, as the plate comes from the maker through the dealer.

Owners of older Devanahalli cars arrange the installation online. The Karnataka Transport Department website names the booking portal, which is the SIAM site, and that is where the date for your vehicle is shown. Stickers and other plate matters are in our Karnataka RTO guide.

The Devanahalli office has one code, KA-43. People mix it up with the city offices it is grouped with, and with Nelamangala (KA-52), which is also in Bengaluru Rural district.

Worth knowing: Being listed with the Bengaluru Urban offices does not make KA-43 one of the nine city codes that private cars in Bengaluru get. It remains the Devanahalli code.

Directories send you to two different spots for this office. Most say Vijayapura Road, Devanahalli, while one says NH 44 at Rani Cross (Nandi Cross), Kurubarakunte, so confirm which is current before setting out.

Check first whether the job can be done from home. Since 1 November 2021 Karnataka has run 18 Vahan and 15 Sarathi services as contactless services, without a visit to any office.

What the Devanahalli RTO does not handle

Neither of the city’s automated driving test tracks is at Devanahalli; the department runs them at Jnanabharathi (KA-41) and Electronic City (KA-51). Check on Sarathi where your test slot falls, and note that autorickshaw permits belong to the KA-57 office.

KA-43 has no official area list that can be quoted, so the only guide is how the office is reported, as serving the Devanahalli side of Bengaluru Rural district, out towards the airport. The RC of an existing car settles the question for that car.

Worth knowing: An office nearby is not proof that it takes your address. Before a new car is filed, confirm on Vahan or with the dealer whether the address goes to Devanahalli or to one of these offices.

The tax a KA-43 car pays is simply the Karnataka lifetime tax, which the ARTO collects at the first registration. Cost and fuel fix the rate, and a company that owns the car pays the same percentage as an individual owner.

An assistant office charges no less than a full RTO. The fees at Devanahalli are the national ones in Rule 81, paid on the Vahan portal, and on a new car the dealer pays them within the on-road price.

For example: On a new KA-43 car with a loan, the RTO fees add up to ₹2,300, being ₹600 to register it, ₹200 for the smart card RC and ₹1,500 to enter the hypothecation, and the road tax is charged on top of that.

Keep a Devanahalli car beyond 15 years and its renewal is ₹5,000; beyond 20 years, ₹10,000. A car renewed late pays ₹500 for every month overdue, and a motorcycle ₹300.

If you want a particular number, the department’s 2021-22 annual report puts the charge at ₹20,000 within the running series or ₹75,000 from an advance series, and advance series numbers are also auctioned.

These fees exclude road tax, the cesses and the HSRP.

If your address is one the Devanahalli office covers, a new car is registered there and gets KA-43, even when the showroom is in Bengaluru city. The dealer handles the filing on Vahan.

A KA-43 car changes owner through the Devanahalli office, the one named on its RC, wherever the buyer lives. The application is made on Vahan using Form 29 from the seller and Form 30 from seller and buyer, for a fee of ₹300 on a car or ₹150 on a motorcycle.

Within 14 days of the RC changing, the buyer should take over the policy as well.

Removing a loan (hypothecation) at Devanahalli RTO

Paid off the loan? Lodge Form 35 and the financier’s No Objection Certificate (NOC) against the KA-43 RC; the RTO charges nothing for it. Our Karnataka RTO guide details the documents.

Vehicle services for KA-43 cars begin on the Vahan portal and licence services on the Sarathi portal. Karnataka put 18 Vahan and 15 Sarathi services online on 1 November 2021, so many tasks need no trip to Devanahalli.

Duplicate RC and RC status check for Devanahalli

For a duplicate KA-43 RC, apply on Form 26; the charge is in the fees table. The Kiwi Insurance RC status check lets you see an RC’s details first.

Driving licence services for Devanahalli

A licence application can go through Sarathi or a Bangalore One or Karnataka One centre. Automated tests are run at Jnanabharathi and Electronic City; the Bengaluru RTO guide lists those offices.

You do not pay traffic challans at the ARTO. Enter the KA-43 number on echallan.parivahan.gov.in, or open mParivahan, and any pending challan can be paid at once.

Each amount is set by the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, as amended in 2019; our Karnataka RTO guide gives the others.

Bring a KA-plated car to Devanahalli from anywhere in Karnataka and the plate stays; just update the RC address. For a car from another state there are two clocks. Karnataka tax is owed once it has stayed in the state more than 30 days, and it must be re-registered with a KA number once it has been kept here more than 12 months.

If you are leaving Karnataka, the Form 28 NOC for a KA-43 car comes from Devanahalli, and it should be in hand before the move. The Karnataka Act allows part of the lifetime tax to be refunded on a car moved out of the state, and the office can explain the claim; see our Karnataka RTO guide too.

Buyers in the KA-43 area whose work moves them between states can ask the dealer for a Bharat series (BH) number in place of KA-43, so that no No Objection Certificate (NOC) is needed for later moves.

For a private employer, the dealer needs Form 60, and the employer must have 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.

See our Karnataka RTO guide for who qualifies and the BH tax.

Most of these are filed through Vahan or Sarathi now, so a printed form is needed only if Devanahalli asks for paper.

For anything else, use the RTO forms on the Parivahan Sewa website; our Karnataka RTO guide explains which applies when.

How insurance links to the Devanahalli RTO

The ARTO registers a car only with valid insurance. If it changes the owner, address or number on a KA-43 RC, inform your insurer so that the policy shows the same details.