Ladakh: RTO code list and details

LA 02 AB 1234 is a car registered in Leh. LA stands for Ladakh and 02 for the Leh office, AB is the letter series, and 1234 is the four-digit number that belongs to this vehicle alone.

The two digits show the office that first registered the car. A car bought in Kargil keeps LA-01 even after its owner settles in Leh. It gets a different code only when it is registered again outside Ladakh or its registration details are changed.

Worth knowing: LA-01 is Kargil, not Leh. Several published lists have it the other way round, but the Transport Department order of December 2019 gave LA-01 to Kargil and LA-02 to Leh.

The High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) is a legal requirement for all LA vehicles, laid down in Rule 50 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) notified it in G.S.R. 1162(E) of 4 December 2018 and S.O. 6052 of 6 December 2018, and since 1 April 2019 the manufacturer and dealer fit it to each new vehicle.

Older vehicles in Ladakh without the plate

Any Ladakh vehicle registered before 1 April 2019 predates the LA codes, so it has a JK-07 or JK-10 plate. These vehicles must also get a High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) fitted, by the dates the union territory sets. To book one, use the HSRP booking portal named on the website of the Transport Department, Administration of Ladakh, and check there which date applies to your vehicle.

Worth knowing: The plate rule is national, so an HSRP fitted at Leh or Kargil has the same features as one fitted anywhere else in India.

The LA code list is the shortest in India, with two codes for the whole union territory. Both offices are Assistant Regional Transport Offices, and both register vehicles for the districts around them.

The codes above follow the Transport Department order of December 2019, issued under section 41(6) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the central notification S.O. 4262(E) of 25 November 2019.

Leh, LA-02, has its office at Agling and serves the eastern half of the union territory. Kargil, LA-01, serves the west. They are about 220 kilometres apart on the only road that joins them.

Each is an Assistant Regional Transport Office reporting to the Transport Department of Ladakh. Between them they cover all seven districts, including the five notified in 2024.

Until 2019 Leh and Kargil were districts of Jammu and Kashmir, and their vehicles carried JK numbers. When Ladakh became a union territory it was given its own mark, and new registrations moved to LA.

The old Ladakh codes

Leh used JK-10 and Kargil used JK-07. Vehicles registered before the change keep those plates, and they are still valid on the road.

The new Ladakh codes

Since December 2019, Kargil issues LA-01 and Leh issues LA-02, with registration marks running from 0001 to 9999 at each office.

Worth knowing: A JK-07 or JK-10 plate on the road today is a Ladakh vehicle registered before the change, not a Jammu and Kashmir one. See the Jammu and Kashmir RTO guide for the JK code list.

Ladakh charges a one-time tax on the price of the car, paid when the vehicle is registered. Published rates put it at 6% up to ₹10 lakhs and 9% above that, and the tax is due within 15 days of registration.

For example: At 6%, the tax on a car priced at ₹6 lakhs comes to ₹36,000. One source also reports a lower band of 3% for cars under ₹2 lakhs, which is worth checking if you are buying at that end of the market.

There are two payment routes: The vehicle tax service on Parivahan Sewa, or the counter at the Leh or Kargil office. The administration fixes the rates and may revise them, so compare the amount on Vahan with the rate above before paying.

Rule 81 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 fixes the base RTO fees, so LA-01 Kargil and LA-02 Leh charge the same amounts. They apply to a new registration, a duplicate or renewed Registration Certificate (RC) and an ownership transfer.

Paid separately: The HSRP, the Ladakh road tax and any service charge the administration adds are outside these fees. Vahan shows each amount before the payment goes through.

The dealer files the registration of most new private cars in Ladakh on Vahan. Road tax and the registration fee are collected with the car’s price, and the Registration Certificate (RC) follows after the office approves the file.

Some vehicles and transactions also call for a document check, an inspection or a visit to the office. The five steps describe the common case, and the office may ask for more.

Important to know: A dealer-arranged policy is optional. Any valid policy is enough for registration, so buyers in Leh and Kargil can compare plans before delivery day.

Ownership of an LA car is transferred by the office on its RC, LA-01 Kargil or LA-02 Leh, or online through Vahan. The fee is ₹300 for a car, and the buyer then has 14 days to take over the insurance.

Removing a loan (hypothecation) from the RC in Ladakh

A car loan stays on the RC until it is removed. After the last instalment, the lender issues a No Objection Certificate and Form 35, the owner applies on Vahan, and the Ladakh office issues an updated RC without the loan.

Good to know: Form 34 is the reverse step. It records a loan on the RC when an LA car is bought on finance.

Every online RTO service in Ladakh runs on the national Parivahan platform. The Vahan portal handles registration, the RC, tax and ownership, and the Sarathi portal handles licences. To look up an LA vehicle or a challan against it, use mParivahan or the e-challan service.

Some services still need a visit to Leh or Kargil, depending on the transaction.

Duplicate RC and RC status check in Ladakh

A duplicate RC is issued against Form 26 when the original is lost, stolen or damaged, for the fee in the RTO fees table. The status of an LA registration shows on Parivahan Sewa and mParivahan, or you can check your RC status with Kiwi Insurance.

Driving licence services in Ladakh

Licence work in Ladakh runs on Sarathi: The learner’s licence, the driving test, licence renewal and the International Driving Permit. The paper forms are Form 2 for a licence and Form 4A for the permit.

The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 sets the national fines below, and they apply to LA vehicles as to any other. Ladakh can compound some offences at its own amounts, so the challan itself states what is due.

E-challans on LA vehicles can be checked and paid on echallan.parivahan.gov.in or in the mParivahan app.

Worth knowing: Driving uninsured costs ₹2,000 on a first challan. A current car insurance policy removes that fine altogether, and renewal before the expiry date keeps it that way.

Documents differ by vehicle, by state and by office, so check the current list with the RTO or on the Parivahan Sewa website. If you are leaving Ladakh, the same steps happen in reverse order. The Leh or Kargil office issues the NOC, the new state registers the car and collects its tax, and you can then claim back the unused Ladakh tax.

A Bharat series (BH) number is a registration mark for private vehicles that is valid in every state. It has no state code, so an owner posted out of Ladakh keeps the same number and does not need a No Objection Certificate (NOC) or a new registration. It suits owners whose work moves them between states. Its legal basis is Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) notification G.S.R. 594(E), dated 26 August 2021 and in force from 15 September 2021.

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. G.S.R. 879(E) of 14 December 2022 amended the Bharat series (BH) rules to allow the ownership transfer of a BH vehicle and the conversion of an existing registration.

Against the Ladakh rate: An LA car pays the reported 6% or 9% road tax once, while a BH car pays the rate above every 2 years.

Keep in mind: A BH car needs no No Objection Certificate and no new registration when its owner is posted out of Ladakh, and there is no tax refund to claim.

Ladakh has no RTO forms of its own: Every form comes from the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. Vahan and Sarathi take most of them online, and you can use the PDF if an office still needs a paper form.

A used car sale needs Form 29 from the seller and Form 30 from both sides. Once the RC shows the buyer’s name, the buyer has 14 days to move the insurance.

Worth knowing: Forms go to the office named by the code on the RC: LA-01 to Kargil, LA-02 to Leh. The office may also want address proof or a Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate, as shown in the document list for each service on the Parivahan Sewa website. Any form missing from this grid can be downloaded from the Parivahan Sewa website.

Worth knowing: The RC transfer and the policy transfer are two separate steps. Completing both inside the same 14 days leaves no gap in cover after the sale.