Manipur: RTO code list and details

An MN number plate has four parts, read from left to right. In MN 01 AB 1234, MN is the code for Manipur, 01 is the Imphal West office, AB is the series that office was issuing, and 1234 is the four-digit number, which no other vehicle in that series has.

The code therefore records where the first registration happened. The MN-01 code does not change when the owner moves to another part of Manipur, such as from Imphal to Ukhrul. It changes only if the vehicle is re-registered outside Manipur or its registration details are changed.

Worth knowing: Imphal is split between two districts and two codes. A car from the west of the city reads MN-01 and one from the east reads MN-06, even though both are Imphal.

Older vehicles in Manipur

A vehicle registered before 1 April 2019 must have a High Security Registration Plate fitted by the date the state sets. To get one, book an HSRP installation through the portal named on the Manipur Transport Department website, which also gives the date for your MN vehicle.

Worth knowing: The registration number does not change when the new plate is fitted. An MN-02 car from Churachandpur keeps MN-02 on its new plate.

Manipur codes are grouped here into the valley districts around Imphal and the hill districts. Match the two digits after MN to a row below and you reach the office that first registered the vehicle, whatever the owner’s address is today.

Published lists disagree on two points: Whether MN-01 is Imphal West or Imphal East, and whether MN-09 and MN-10 are in use. Confirm your own office with the Transport Department before you rely on either.

Imphal is divided between two districts, and each has its own office. Imphal West uses MN-01 and Imphal East uses MN-06, so two cars from the same city can carry different codes.

Between them these two offices handle most registrations in the state, since the valley holds the bulk of the population. The hill districts have their own offices, listed above.

Manipur created seven new districts in 2016, and the registering offices have not all followed. Where a district has no office of its own, its vehicles are registered by the office it was carved out of.

Kangpokpi, MN-03

Kangpokpi was created out of Senapati district and does appear in published code lists with MN-03, so vehicles there carry their own code.

Codes that are not settled

MN-09 and MN-10 are listed as Tamenglong and Chandel by some sources and left out by others, and districts such as Kakching, Jiribam, Noney, Pherzawl, Kamjong and Tengnoupal appear inconsistently. Before visiting any office, read the one named on your Registration Certificate and go to that counter rather than the nearest one.

Worth knowing: Vehicles already registered in those areas kept their codes when the new districts were created in 2016, so their owners do not need to change anything.

At the time of first registration, a car in Manipur pays a one-time tax worked out on its original cost, under the Manipur Motor Vehicles Taxation (Second Amendment) Act, 2015. The rate climbs with the price, from 4% for cars up to ₹3 lakhs to 8% above ₹20 lakhs, and the payment covers 15 years before it is renewed for a further 5.

For example: Buy a car with an original cost of ₹3 lakhs and the 4% slab applies, leaving ₹12,000 to pay in road tax. Step up to an ₹8 lakhs car and the 6% slab brings the tax to ₹48,000. On a new car this amount is usually included in the dealer’s on-road price and paid in the same payment.

Owners paying the tax themselves use the vehicle tax service on Parivahan Sewa, while a buyer at a dealer usually finds it already in the on-road price. The state can revise its rates, so look at the amount Vahan shows on the day you pay, and the receipt will match the current schedule.

Alongside the road tax, each RTO service has a fee fixed under Rule 81 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. The same national amount applies at the MN-01 counter in Imphal West and at the MN-07 office in Ukhrul, starting with ₹600 to register a new car and issue its Registration Certificate (RC).

These rows are the RTO’s own fee only. The High Security Registration Plate (HSRP), the road tax and any state service charge are billed separately, which makes the total at the counter higher than the row you read.

Worth knowing: A private car RC runs for 15 years and is then renewed 5 years at a time. Renewing on time avoids the late charge of ₹500 that builds up for each month of delay.

Buying a new private car in Manipur usually means the dealer files the registration on Vahan for you. The road tax and registration fee are part of the on-road price, and you receive the Registration Certificate (RC) once the Imphal West, Imphal East or district office approves the file.

Some purchases add a stage along the way, such as a document check, an inspection or a visit to the office. Treat the order above as the common route, and confirm with the office when your case differs.

Important to know: The policy does not have to come from the dealer. Buy it yourself before delivery day, hand it over for the registration, and the choice of insurer stays with you.

Removing a loan (hypothecation) from the RC in Manipur

After the last instalment, the lender gives you a No Objection Certificate (NOC) and Form 35. Apply with both on Vahan, and the RTO issues an updated RC without the loan, leaving the car fully in your name. Form 34 is the reverse step, used when a loan is first recorded on the RC.

In Manipur, most RTO work can be started online before any visit to an office. Vehicle tasks, from registration and the RC to tax and ownership, go through the Vahan portal, while licence tasks go through the Sarathi portal. To look up a vehicle or a challan, mParivahan and the e-challan service give the answer without a trip to Imphal.

How far a task stays online depends on the transaction and on the office, and some still end with a visit.

Duplicate RC and RC status check in Manipur

When an RC is lost, stolen or damaged, the replacement starts with Form 26 and the ₹300 car fee shown in the fees table, and ends with a duplicate RC in your hands. To follow an application or confirm a registration, check RC status on Parivahan Sewa or mParivahan, or check your RC status with the Kiwi Insurance tool.

Driving licence services in Manipur

Licence work follows its own order on Sarathi. A learner’s licence comes first, then the driving test, and years later the renewal. Anyone planning to drive abroad applies there too, for an International Driving Permit.

Traffic fines in Manipur start from the national amounts in the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019. The state can compound some offences at its own amounts, and the challan you receive, rather than this table, shows what is due.

When a challan is raised against an MN number, look it up on the Parivahan e-challan portal, echallan.parivahan.gov.in, or in mParivahan, then pay it online without a visit to Imphal.

Worth knowing: The ₹2,000 fine for driving uninsured, ₹4,000 on a repeat, is the one a valid policy prevents. The car insurance section shows how that policy ties into your RTO record.

The documents asked for can differ with the vehicle, the state and the office, so confirm the list with the MN office or on the Parivahan Sewa website before you go. If you are moving your car out of Manipur, the steps run the other way. Your MN office gives the NOC, you register the car and pay tax in the new state, and then you claim back the unused Manipur tax from the office here.

A Bharat series (BH) plate shows no state code, so the car can be used in any state on the same number. If the owner is posted outside Manipur, there is no No Objection Certificate (NOC) to get and no new registration to do. It is meant for people who change states for work, and an eligible owner can pick it instead of an MN number when buying. The rule dates from G.S.R. 594(E) of 26 August 2021, which took effect on 15 September 2021. A second notification, G.S.R. 879(E) of 14 December 2022, then opened Bharat series numbers to ownership transfer and to the conversion of existing registrations.

Who qualifies depends on the employer. Staff of the Central or state government, the defence services or the public sector can apply, as can private sector staff whose employer has offices in 4 or more states or union territories.

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.

How it compares: Manipur’s own one-time tax is 4% to 8% of the original cost and covers 15 years, whereas the BH rate is 8% to 12%, paid 2 years at a time.

The forms used at Imphal West, Imphal East and the hill district offices are the national ones from the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. Most of them are filled in online on Vahan or Sarathi, and you need the PDF only if an office still wants the form on paper.

In a used car sale the order is Form 29 from the seller, then Form 30 from both, as the ownership transfer steps show. From the day the RC changes, the buyer has 14 days to move the insurance.

Worth knowing: A form goes to the office whose code is on your RC, which puts an MN-06 car at Imphal East and an MN-01 car at Imphal West. Some offices also want address proof or a PUC certificate, and the document list on the Parivahan Sewa website shows which before you travel. Any form missing from these cards can be downloaded from the complete form list on the Parivahan Sewa website.

How insurance links to the RTO in Manipur

The policy comes first: An MN office registers a new car only once a valid policy is in place. At an ownership transfer, the policy follows the RC into the buyer’s name within 14 days. After a move or a re-registration, inform your insurer of the new number, and the policy and RC agree again.

Worth knowing: Book the RTO transfer and the insurer transfer into the same fortnight, and cover carries on without a gap for the new owner.