Mangaluru: KA-19 RTO Mangalore office, code and areas

Cars registered in Mangaluru carry KA-19, the code of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) for the city. The code list gives Dakshina Kannada two more offices, an RTO at Puttur and an Assistant RTO at Bantwal. A Surathkal office with the code KA-62 was announced back in 2017, but news reports say it is not yet operating, so Surathkal cars still come to KA-19.

Take KA 19 AB 1234. KA is Karnataka, and 19 says the car was registered at the Mangaluru office. AB is the letter series and 1234 is the four-digit number given to that one car.

Worth knowing: A 21 after KA points to Puttur and a 70 to Bantwal, both in the same district. Move from Mangaluru to Hubballi or Mysuru and the KA-19 code does not change. A coastal plate number changes only when the car is re-registered outside Karnataka or its registration details are changed.

A new car registered at KA-19 has its High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) fitted by the dealer before delivery. Rule 50 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 has required this for new vehicles since 1 April 2019.

Worth knowing: Book the HSRP installation for an older Mangaluru car through the booking portal named on the Karnataka Transport Department website, and check there which date applies to it. Plate colours and the rest of the rules are on our Karnataka RTO guide.

The Karnataka code list gives Mangaluru KA-19. Three more Dakshina Kannada codes are on that list, and one of them, KA-62 for Surathkal, belongs to an office that news reports say has not started work.

Udupi has had its own district since 25 August 1997, when Udupi, Kundapura and Karkala were separated from Dakshina Kannada, and it registers cars under KA-20.

Mangaluru registration work goes to the KA-19 office. Directories that copy the Transport Department’s contact list place it at Hampankatta. The address and the hours could not be confirmed from an official source, so check both before you make the trip.

Mangaluru RTO office, KA-19

The listed address is on Nehru Maidan Road at Hampankatta, by East A.B. Shetty Circle, with the pincode 575001.

Is there an RTO in Surathkal?

Not yet, by the latest reports. A Surathkal RTO was announced in the 2017 state budget and the code KA-62 was set aside for it. In December 2025 a news report said the office was still not working, and that cars from Surathkal, Mulki and Kinnigoli were still being registered at KA-19.

There is no official list of the areas the KA-19 office covers. What is known is that the city and, by news reports, the Surathkal side register here, while Udupi district has its own office.

Not sure which office has your address? The code on an existing RC tells you, or enter the number in the finder at the top of this page.

Worth knowing: Dakshina Kannada has Udupi district to its north and Kerala to its south. A car from across the Kerala border on a KL number owes Karnataka tax after more than 30 days in the state, and needs a KA number once it has been kept here for more than 12 months.

The KA-19 office charges the national RTO fees, so registering at Mangaluru costs the same as at Bantwal or Udupi. Payment is made on Vahan, and a showroom selling a new car pays it while applying for the number.

A Mangaluru example: Register a new car bought on a loan at KA-19 and the RTO fees come to ₹2,300, made up of ₹600 for registration, ₹200 for the smart card and ₹1,500 for entering the loan. Road tax and cess are on top.

Long-serving cars cost more at the RTO. Renewing a car’s registration at 15 years is ₹5,000, and after 20 years ₹10,000. Each month of delay adds ₹500 for a car or ₹300 for a motorcycle.

The showroom applies on Vahan, and the KA-19 office allots the number

For a first car bought in Mangaluru, the dealer does most of the RTO work. The application goes in on Vahan with your Mangaluru address, and once KA-19 approves it the car gets its number.

A KA-19 car sold to a buyer in Karnataka keeps its number. The seller gives notice on Form 29, buyer and seller sign Form 30, and the ₹300 transfer fee is paid on Vahan.

For a buyer outside Karnataka, the Mangaluru office first issues a No Objection Certificate (NOC). Whoever buys the car has 14 days to take over the policy.

Clearing a loan (hypothecation) from a Mangaluru RC

Once the loan is paid off, the bank gives you an NOC and Form 35. Upload them on Vahan and KA-19 issues the RC without the bank’s name, at no fee. The documents a coastal buyer and seller need are on our Karnataka RTO guide.

Much of the KA-19 work never needs the Hampankatta counter. Vehicle services start on the Vahan portal and licence services on the Sarathi portal, and Karnataka has offered a set of them without any office visit since November 2021.

Duplicate RC and RC status check in Mangaluru

A lost or damaged RC for a KA-19 car is replaced on Form 26 through Vahan, for ₹300. To follow it, check your RC status on Kiwi Insurance.

Driving licence services in Mangaluru

A learner’s licence, the driving test slot and a licence renewal all begin on Sarathi. Each service is explained on our Karnataka RTO guide.

The fine for driving a KA-19 car with no insurance is set nationally, under section 196 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, as amended in 2019. It is ₹2,000 the first time and ₹4,000 after that.

The amount on a Mangaluru challan is the one to pay, as Karnataka may compound some offences. Check and pay it on echallan.parivahan.gov.in or in the mParivahan app. Our Karnataka RTO guide lists the remaining fines for KA vehicles.

Moving to Mangaluru from Bengaluru or another Karnataka city? Your car keeps its KA number and only the RC address changes. A car from Kerala, Goa or further away owes Karnataka tax once it stays in the state for more than 30 days. After more than 12 months here, it must also be registered with a KA number.

If you are leaving Karnataka with a KA-19 car, the same steps apply in reverse. The Mangaluru office issues the NOC on Form 28, your new state registers the car, and you can apply to Karnataka for a refund of part of the unused road tax.

Worth knowing: The policy needs two updates. Inform your insurer when you move in, and again when the KA-19 number is issued. For the refund, ask the KA-19 office.

Transferred to the coast for a few years? With a Bharat series (BH) number, which has no state code, leaving Karnataka later means no No Objection Certificate (NOC) and no fresh registration. It is open to government, defence and public sector employees, and to private employees whose company works in 4 or more states or union territories, who apply with Form 60.

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, at 8% for a car under ₹10 lakhs. See our Karnataka RTO guide.

The KA-19 office uses the same national forms as every RTO in India. Nearly all of them are completed online through Vahan or Sarathi now, and the PDF version helps if a counter wants a printed copy.

Each form goes to the office named on your RC, which is KA-19 for a Mangaluru car. For anything missing here, go to the Parivahan Sewa website.