Hubli-Dharwad RTO: KA-25 and KA-63 offices

The twin city has two RTO codes, and both offices are listed as full offices rather than one being a branch of the other. KA-25 is listed as the Dharwad (West) Regional Transport Office and KA-63 as Dharwad (East), listed at Hubballi, so a car from Hubballi and a car from Dharwad can carry different codes while belonging to the same district.

Take KA 25 AB 1234. KA says the car was registered in Karnataka, 25 points to the Dharwad (West) office, AB is the letter series and 1234 is the four-digit number that belongs to this one car. Swap 25 for 63 and you have a car registered at the Dharwad (East) office in Hubballi instead.

Worth knowing: KA-25 or KA-63 shows where the car was first registered, not where its owner lives today. Move from Dharwad to Hubballi, or across the state to Bengaluru, and the code stays as it is, since it changes only if the car is re-registered outside Karnataka or its registration details are changed.

KA-25 and KA-63 are the two Hubli-Dharwad codes. They are easy to mix up with KA-26, the Gadag code, which one insurance directory labels Gadag-Dharwad, and with KA-27, which belongs to neighbouring Haveri.

Gadag has been a separate district since 24 August 1997, according to its official district website, so a KA-26 car is registered in Gadag, however often it is driven in Hubballi.

Both offices are listed as Regional Transport Offices for Dharwad district. The addresses below are as listed in copies of the Transport Department contact list, so confirm them with the office before you make the trip.

Dharwad (West) RTO office, KA-25

Listed as Regional Transport Office, Dharwad (West), this office is listed on the Hubli-Dharwad Road at Navanagar, under the KA-25 code.

Dharwad (East) RTO office at Hubballi, KA-63

KA-63 is listed as a Regional Transport Office in its own right, named Dharwad (East), and not as an assistant office. Its listed address is at Gabbur Cross on P.B. Road in Hubballi.

Worth knowing: A 2022 news report named the Dharwad RTO among seven Karnataka offices with an automated driving test track. Book your test slot on Sarathi, where the office and time for the test are shown.

Both offices serve Dharwad district, which has five taluks: Dharwad, Hubli, Kalghatgi, Navalgund and Kundgol. Which taluks or wards go to KA-25 and which to KA-63 is not confirmed officially, so go by the office named on your RC.

For a car already on the road, the answer is printed on it. Enter the number, for example KA25AB1234, in the finder at the top of this page, or read the RC.

Worth knowing: Before a new registration, ask the dealer which of the two offices your address goes to. A move between Hubballi and Dharwad is only an address change on the RC, and then you inform your insurer of the new address.

Worked example: A ₹4 lakh petrol hatchback registered at KA-63 pays 13%, which is ₹52,000. The 11% cess adds ₹5,720 and the welfare cess ₹1,000, so ₹58,720 in all, and the bill at KA-25 would be identical.

Whether your papers go to Navanagar or Gabbur Cross, the fee is the same, set nationally under Rule 81 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules. You pay it on Vahan, and for a new car the dealer collects it with the on-road price.

Worked example: A buyer in Dharwad takes a new car on a bank loan. Registration (₹600), the smart card (₹200) and noting the loan (₹1,500) come to ₹2,300 in RTO fees, and the Karnataka road tax is charged separately.

Keeping an old car registered costs more. A KA-25 car reaching 15 years renews for ₹5,000 and one past 20 years for ₹10,000, and every month of delay adds ₹500 for a car or ₹300 for a motorcycle.

A Hubli-Dharwad dealer registers the new car for you on Vahan, but the code depends on the office your address is filed under, not on the showroom. Two buyers at the same Hubballi dealer can drive away with a KA-25 and a KA-63 number.

Still showing a bank loan (hypothecation)? Close it first with the lender’s No Objection Certificate (NOC) and Form 35, free of charge. Selling across district lines, say to a Gadag buyer, follows the steps in our Karnataka RTO guide.

Karnataka moved many services online on 1 November 2021, so most Hubli-Dharwad work starts on the Vahan portal for vehicles or the Sarathi portal for licences, and the KA-25 or KA-63 office then processes it.

Duplicate RC and RC status check in Hubli-Dharwad

A lost RC is replaced by applying on Form 26, at ₹300 for a car. The Kiwi Insurance tool lets you check your RC status for a KA-25 or KA-63 car at any time.

Driving licence services in Hubli-Dharwad

The learner’s licence application and the test booking are both on Sarathi, and the test itself is taken in person. What else can be done without visiting Navanagar or Gabbur Cross is in our Karnataka RTO guide.

Driving a KA-25 or KA-63 car without insurance costs ₹2,000 the first time and ₹4,000 for each later offence under section 196 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, as amended in 2019.

Pay a challan on echallan.parivahan.gov.in or the mParivahan app. A KA-25 or KA-63 owner can look up the longer list of fines in our Karnataka RTO guide.

If you move to Hubli-Dharwad from Belagavi, Bengaluru or any other Karnataka city, your KA number stays, and only the address on the RC changes. A car from another state is different, and Karnataka treats it in two stages.

Leaving Karnataka works the other way round. The Hubli-Dharwad office that holds your file issues the NOC on Form 28, and the new state then registers the car.

Worth knowing: When the new KA number is issued, inform your insurer so the policy matches the RC. The Karnataka-wide steps for owners coming from outside the state sit in our Karnataka RTO guide.

A Hubli-Dharwad owner who is transferred between states can choose a Bharat (BH) series number instead of KA-25 or KA-63, and needs no No Objection Certificate (NOC) to move. Defence staff, government staff and private employees qualify, the last group when their company works in 4 or more states or union territories and signs Form 60 for them.

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.

BH tax is paid every 2 years instead of the Karnataka lifetime tax (rates in our Karnataka RTO guide).

These are national forms under the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. Vahan and Sarathi take most of them online, and the PDF is useful if either office asks for paper.

Before you submit: Check the document list for your service on the Parivahan Sewa website, which also carries every other RTO form for a KA-25 or KA-63 file.