Kerala: RTO code list and details

Kerala RTOs, from Thiruvananthapuram to Kozhikode and Kannur, are run by the state Motor Vehicles Department. A vehicle registered in Kerala gets a number that begins with KL and then the code of its Regional Transport Office (RTO), such as KL-01 for Thiruvananthapuram.

Read KL 01 AB 1234 from left to right. KL comes first and stands for Kerala, 01 is the code of the RTO that registered the car, AB is the letter series, and 1234 at the end is the four-digit number.

A car first registered in Kochi gets KL-07, and it is still KL-07 after the owner moves to Kozhikode or anywhere else in Kerala. Only two things lead to a new code: Registering the car again outside Kerala, or a change to its registration details.

Worth knowing: A KL plate is valid on roads in every state. The code is a record of the office that registered the vehicle first, and it has no link to where the vehicle is used now.

Older Kerala vehicles and HSRP

A KL car registered before 1 April 2019 still has an older plate. Its owner books an HSRP and has it installed by the date Kerala sets, and the car then meets the same rule as a new one.

Worth knowing: Book the HSRP installation for a KL vehicle on the booking portal named on the Kerala Motor Vehicles Department website, and confirm there the date that applies to your car. The plate became law in two steps: G.S.R. 1162(E) on 4 December 2018, then S.O. 6052 on 6 December 2018, both from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

Every Kerala RTO works under its own KL code. When a vehicle is first registered, it takes the code of that office, which is normally the RTO covering the address on the Registration Certificate (RC).

Code list pending: Every KL code and office will be listed here after an official Kerala Motor Vehicles Department list has been checked. Until then, the Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and city sections below show the codes of the main offices.

Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi each have two RTO codes. In Thiruvananthapuram, KL-01 is the city RTO and KL-22 is the Kazhakkoottam office. In Kochi, KL-07 is the Ernakulam RTO and KL-43 is the Mattancherry Sub RTO, which works from Thoppumpady. A car takes the code of whichever office registers it first.

The code on the plate tells two Kochi offices apart: A KL-43 car was first registered at the Mattancherry office, and a KL-07 car at the Ernakulam RTO. For later work such as an address change, the RTO that covers the address on your RC handles the application.

Outside Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi, the large towns of Kerala have RTOs with codes of their own. Find the town in the tables below, and the code beside it belongs to the office that registers vehicles there.

Once you know the code, the office follows from it. A KL-11 car, for example, was registered at the Kozhikode RTO, and a KL-55 car at Tirur, even if both are now kept somewhere else in Kerala.

Kerala collects road tax once, at a vehicle’s first registration in the state, as a percentage of its purchase value. The rate rises with the price: 10% to 22% for a petrol or diesel car, 13% to 21% for a two-wheeler and, under the bands passed in July 2026, 3% to 15% for an electric vehicle.

A car bought for ₹4.5 lakhs is taxed at 10%, so the owner ends up paying ₹45,000. At ₹8 lakhs the rate moves to 13%, and the tax comes to ₹1,04,000.

On a ₹90,000 scooter, the 13% rate gives a tax of ₹11,700. A ₹1.5 lakh motorcycle moves into the 15% band, and its tax works out to ₹22,500.

These four bands come from the Kerala Finance (No. 3) Bill as passed in July 2026, and one table now covers electric two-wheelers, personal three-wheelers and cars alike. An electric scooter costing ₹1.2 lakhs falls in the 3% band, a tax of ₹3,600, while a ₹12 lakh electric car pays 5%, or ₹60,000. As the final notified text was not available to check, look at the amount on Vahan before paying.

Road tax on a car brought from another state

A car registered in another state pays a share of the Kerala one-time tax when it is registered again in Kerala. The share depends on the car’s age from its first registration.

Check the amount Vahan shows first and then pay, as the state can revise these rates.

At registration, a new car in Kerala pays ₹600 in RTO fees on top of its road tax, and the amount is the same at Kozhikode, Kochi or any other office. The fee is fixed by Rule 81 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, which applies across the country.

Asking for the RC as a smart card adds ₹200. If a renewal is applied for late, ₹500 is added for each month of delay on a car and ₹300 on a motorcycle. Battery-operated vehicles pay nothing when their RC is issued or renewed.

Worth knowing: These fees cover the RTO’s own work only, so the HSRP, the Kerala road tax and any state service charge are added separately.

A new private car bought in Kerala is registered by the dealer, who applies on the Vahan portal, so in most cases the car never has to visit the RTO. Road tax and the registration fee are part of the price, and once the RTO approves the application, it issues the Registration Certificate (RC).

Important to know: The dealer has to see a valid policy before registering the car, but you choose where that policy comes from. Comparing cover before delivery day lets you buy it yourself.

When a KL-11 car from Kozhikode is sold, the RC moves to the buyer in a few steps, on Vahan or at the RTO shown on the RC. At the end, the buyer holds an RC in their own name, and the RTO fee for a car is ₹300.

After that, the buyer has 14 days to transfer the car insurance as well.

Removing a loan (hypothecation) from the RC in Kerala

Buying a car on a loan puts the lender’s name on its RC, through Form 34. After the final instalment, the order is: Get the lender’s No Objection Certificate (NOC) and Form 35, apply on Vahan, and receive a new RC from the RTO with the loan entry removed.

Most RTO work in Kerala now begins on a screen. Vehicle tasks such as tax, transfers and RC changes run on the Vahan portal, and licence tasks run on the Sarathi portal, so a visit to the RTO comes only at steps such as the driving test.

Duplicate RC and RC status check in Kerala

A lost, stolen or damaged RC is replaced in two steps: Apply on Form 26, then pay the ₹300 car fee shown in the fees table above. After that, Parivahan Sewa and the mParivahan app show where the application stands, or you can check your RC status on Kiwi Insurance.

Driving licence services in Kerala

A new driver in Kerala moves from the learner’s licence to the driving test on Sarathi. Renewing the licence later, or applying for an International Driving Permit, also goes through Sarathi, with Form 2 and Form 4A from the forms section.

A driver stopped in Kochi without valid insurance pays ₹2,000 the first time and ₹4,000 for any later offence. These amounts, and the others below, are the national fines set by the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019.

Here, “next time” means any offence after the first. A state may compound some offences at its own amounts, and as a result the challan issued in Kerala states the exact sum to pay. To check it and pay it, enter the challan or vehicle number on the Parivahan e-challan portal, echallan.parivahan.gov.in, or in mParivahan.

Worth knowing: With a valid policy in place, the uninsured driving fine in the first row cannot apply to your car. Read more under car insurance in Kerala.

If you are leaving Kerala, the order is reversed: Get the NOC from your KL RTO before the move, register the car in the new state, and then apply for a refund of the unused Kerala road tax.

A Bharat series (BH) number plate is one registration number for the whole country, and so it has no KL or other state code. When the owner moves out of Kerala, the car needs neither a No Objection Certificate (NOC) nor a new registration in the new state. The series is meant for people whose work takes them from state to state, for example a public sector employee posted to Kochi. G.S.R. 594(E), dated 26 August 2021, introduced it, and the rules started on 15 September 2021.

The BH tax is paid in 2-year blocks, with 2% added for a diesel car and 2% taken off for an electric car. On a regular KL number, by contrast, a car costing ₹8 lakhs pays Kerala’s one-time tax of 13%, or ₹1,04,000, at 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. When a BH car later leaves Kerala, the owner has no road tax refund to claim. A later notification, G.S.R. 879(E) of 14 December 2022, then set rules for selling a BH car and for switching an existing registration to BH.

Kerala RTOs work with the national forms set by the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. Most are filled in online on Vahan or Sarathi, and you can download the official PDF from each card if an office still wants a paper form.

In a used car sale, Form 29 and Form 30 are filed together. The 14-day window for moving the insurance starts once the RC shows the buyer’s name.

Worth knowing: Forms go to the RTO whose code is on your RC, for example KL-07 for a car registered in Kochi. Look at the document list on the Parivahan Sewa website first, as an office may also ask for address proof or a PUC certificate. The Parivahan Sewa website also has each RTO form not shown on these cards.

How your insurance links to the Kerala RTO

Insurance and the RTO record connect at three stages. First, a new car needs insurance before it can be registered. Next, after a used car sale, the buyer has 14 days to move the policy across. Finally, if the car is registered again under a new number, inform your insurer so both records match.

Worth knowing: Completing the policy transfer straight after the RC transfer, inside the 14 days, keeps a used KL car insured in the new owner’s name from the start.