Tardeo: RTO code list and details

On a plate such as MH 01 AB 1234, MH stands for Maharashtra and 01 shows that Tardeo, the Mumbai (Central) office, registered the car, while AB is the letter series and 1234 is the four-digit number.

Worth knowing: An owner who moves from Girgaon to a flat in Pune or Nagpur keeps the 01 on the plate, since the code changes only if the car is re-registered outside Maharashtra or its registration details are changed. A plate reading MH 01 tells you where the car was first registered, not where its owner lives today.

An MH-01 car first registered on or after 1 April 2019 came with its High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) already fitted, and the state transport department says such cars need not apply again.

For an older Tardeo car, book the installation through the booking portal named on the Maharashtra transport department website, where the date for your vehicle is shown. A fitment centre adds no fitment charge; fitment at home costs extra. Stickers and the other plate rules for MH vehicles are explained in our Maharashtra RTO guide.

Tardeo works under a single code, MH-01. The mix-ups come from place names, as the MH-03 offices stand in Wadala and Worli while both of those areas are on the Tardeo list.

Look for the office in Tulsiwadi, Tardeo, on Old Bodyguard Lane. The transport department lists it as the Regional Transport Office, Mumbai (Central), and gives its pincode as 400034.

The two names cause the most confusion. Mumbai Central RTO and Tardeo RTO are one and the same MH-01 office, and the official list of Mumbai offices has no separate entry at Mumbai Central.

What the Tardeo RTO does not handle

Tardeo deals only with cars on its own list. An RC that gives a Juhu, Ghatkopar or Malad address belongs to another Mumbai office, and a car from Thane or Navi Mumbai stays with the RTO of that town.

The department’s Know Your RTO pincode list gives MH-01 the whole island city and a good deal more. Match the locality on your RC to the groups below.

Worth knowing: Two place names mislead. A Wadala or Antop Hill address is MH-01 although the MH-03 office stands at the Wadala Truck Terminal, and a Worli address is MH-01 although the MH-03 branch for private vehicles is on Sir Pochkhanwala Road.

Tardeo has no tax rate of its own. It collects the Maharashtra road tax once, when an MH-01 car is first registered, and for a car owned by an individual the rate depends on the fuel and the price.

Worked example: A Girgaon family registering a ₹6 lakh petrol car pays 11%, which comes to ₹66,000 in road tax. On top of that comes a road safety cess on the tax, reported as 2%, and Vahan gives the exact sum to pay.

Tardeo charges the national RTO fees, so an MH-01 owner pays what an Andheri or Thane owner pays. The money goes through Vahan, and for a new car the dealer collects it within the on-road price.

For example: A Girgaon buyer who finances a new car pays Tardeo ₹2,300 before any road tax, which is ₹600 for the registration, ₹200 for the smart card RC and ₹1,500 for noting the loan.

An MH-01 car that turns 15 costs ₹5,000 to renew, or ₹10,000 once it is past 20. Leave the renewal late and Tardeo adds ₹500 for each month on a car, or ₹300 on a motorcycle.

Keep money aside for the HSRP, the state road tax and any service charge, since the RTO fee table leaves all three out.

The dealer files on Vahan, and an island-city address brings the car to MH-01

Buy the car from any showroom you like. If the address you give the dealer is on the MH-01 list, in Girgaon or Dadar for instance, the Tardeo office approves the registration and the car gets an MH-01 number.

When an MH-01 car changes hands, the transfer goes to Tardeo, the office named on its RC, or is started on Vahan. Paperwork means Form 29 from the seller and Form 30 with both signatures, and Tardeo charges ₹300 to move a car into the new name, or ₹150 for a motorcycle.

Within 14 days the new owner should also have the policy transferred.

Removing a loan (hypothecation) at Tardeo RTO

Once the bank is repaid, send Form 35 and the lender’s No Objection Certificate (NOC) to Tardeo, and the loan comes off the RC at no fee. The full transfer steps are in our Maharashtra RTO guide.

Most MH-01 work begins on the Vahan portal, and licence work on the Sarathi portal, with Tardeo taking over whatever has to be checked in person. Learners in Maharashtra can also take the learner licence test online, with Aadhaar authentication.

Duplicate RC and RC status check for Tardeo

A lost or damaged MH-01 RC is replaced on Form 26 for the duplicate fee in the fees table. To see what an RC shows, try the Kiwi Insurance RC status check.

Driving licence services for Tardeo

Book licence slots on Sarathi before any visit, and it shows where your test is held. All five Mumbai offices are in our Mumbai RTO guide.

To check a challan on an MH-01 car, search the number on echallan.parivahan.gov.in or in mParivahan, which shows what is due and lets you pay it.

For every other offence and its fine, see our Maharashtra RTO guide.

Moving to Colaba or Dadar with a car from Pune or Nashik? The MH number stays on the car, and only the RC address needs updating at Tardeo. A car from another state has to be re-registered at Tardeo with an MH-01 number once it has been kept in Maharashtra for more than 12 months.

Taking an MH-01 car out of Maharashtra works the other way round. Apply to Tardeo on Form 28 for the NOC, which is free, and add the papers the department asks for on Mumbai vehicles, which are an NOC from the Commissioner of Police (or Superintendent of Police), proof that the motor vehicle tax is paid and an NOC from the office’s prosecution branch.

Worth knowing: Inform your insurer as soon as the car has its new number. The forms are explained in our Maharashtra RTO guide.

If your job moves you from state to state, ask the dealer for a Bharat series (BH) number in place of MH-01, and a later move out of Maharashtra needs no NOC from Tardeo.

An employee of a private firm present in at least 4 states or union territories hands the dealer Form 60, signed by the employer. 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.

Who qualifies and how the BH tax works are in our Maharashtra RTO guide.

For a form not shown, open the list of RTO forms on the Parivahan Sewa website; when to use each is covered in our Maharashtra RTO guide.

How insurance links to the Tardeo RTO

No car is registered at Tardeo until a valid policy is in place. Each change it makes to an RC, whether a new owner, address or number, should reach the policy as well, so inform your insurer every time.