Nagaland: RTO code list and details

An NL number plate is read from left to right, in four parts. Take NL 07 AB 1234: The letters NL mean Nagaland, 07 means the Dimapur office, AB is the series, and 1234 is the four-digit number of that one vehicle.

The office code is fixed at the first registration, so it records where the vehicle was registered rather than where its owner lives now. A move to another Nagaland district leaves the NL code as it is. The code is replaced only when the vehicle is re-registered in another state, or when its registration details are changed.

Worth knowing: An NL-10 or NL-11 plate belongs to a government vehicle, not a private one. Those two codes are issued by the Kohima office for state vehicles only.

Getting an HSRP fitted on an older vehicle in Nagaland

Older NL vehicles, those registered before 1 April 2019, need the High Security Registration Plate put on by the dates the state sets. Book the installation on the HSRP booking portal named on the Nagaland Motor Vehicles Department website, and check there which date applies to your NL vehicle.

Worth knowing: The new plate replaces the old one, not the number. An NL-02 car from Mokokchung still reads NL-02 after its HSRP is fitted.

Nagaland uses codes from NL-01 to NL-08 for its district offices, with NL-10 and NL-11 reserved for government vehicles. Each code is tied to the office that issued it, so a plate leads back to that office whatever the owner’s address is today.

Some published lists assign NL-09, NL-10 and NL-11 to Kiphire, Longleng and Peren instead, so those three are worth confirming with the Motor Vehicles Department before you rely on them.

Kohima and Dimapur handle most of the state’s registrations. Kohima, NL-01, is the senior Regional Transport Office and sits at the Secretariat Complex. Dimapur, NL-07, serves the state’s largest commercial centre.

The Dimapur office also covers Chumoukedima and Niuland, which were created as separate districts out of the old Dimapur district, so vehicles from all three carry NL-07.

Nagaland has created several districts in recent years, and the transport offices have not all followed. A new district is usually served by the office it was carved out of, so its vehicles carry that office’s code.

Chumoukedima and Niuland

Both were created out of the Dimapur district and are served by the Dimapur office, so vehicles registered there carry NL-07.

Peren, Kiphire, Longleng and Noklak

Published lists disagree about whether these districts have their own codes. Check your Registration Certificate or the office that registered the vehicle rather than assuming a code from the district name.

Worth knowing: The code on your plate does not change when a new district is created. The plate keeps the code of the office that registered the vehicle in the first place.

Nagaland charges a one-time tax of 6% of the cost on a private car, under the Nagaland Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Act, 2023. The rate is flat, with no price bands, and the payment made at registration covers 15 years before it is renewed for a further 5 years at 3%.

For example: A car costing ₹6 lakhs pays 6%, which is ₹36,000, once at registration. An electric car at the same price pays the same ₹36,000, and a ₹10 lakhs car pays ₹60,000.

On a new car the dealer usually adds this tax to the on-road price. For a car you register yourself, enter the registration number on Vahan, or ask the office that will register it, to confirm the amount before you pay.

Every RTO service in Nagaland is charged at a fee fixed by Rule 81 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, and that fee does not change from one NL office to the next. Registering a new car, the first service most owners use, costs ₹600 and brings the Registration Certificate (RC) with it.

Three charges come on top of the table: The road tax, the High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) and any state service charge. Each is billed on its own, so the total at the counter ends up above the RTO fee.

Worth knowing: After its first 15 years, a private car’s RC is renewed in 5-year steps. A renewal made on time avoids the ₹500 charged for each month of delay.

A new private car in Nagaland is normally registered in this order: The dealer files on Vahan, the tax and fee are paid with the car’s price, the NL office approves, and the Registration Certificate (RC) follows.

Some cases add a step before the RC is issued, such as a document check, an inspection or a visit to the office. The order above is the common one, and your office can ask for more.

Important to know: The policy can come from you rather than the dealer, bought any time before delivery day. Registration only needs a valid policy from any insurer, so you can compare quotes first and then choose.

Removing a loan (hypothecation) from the RC in Nagaland

The steps begin after the last instalment, when the lender issues a No Objection Certificate (NOC) and Form 35. You then apply on Vahan with both, and the RTO issues an updated RC that no longer shows the loan. Form 34 works the other way round and is used when a loan is first added to the RC.

Nagaland uses the national Parivahan system, and the portal depends on the task. Registration, the RC, tax and ownership go through the Vahan portal, licence work goes through the Sarathi portal, and vehicle details and challans can be looked up in mParivahan and the e-challan service.

A few tasks begin online and then need a trip to the NL office, and which ones depends on the service.

Duplicate RC and RC status check in Nagaland

If the RC is lost, stolen or damaged, apply for a duplicate RC on Form 26, on Vahan or at the NL office on the record. For the current state of the record, enter the number on Parivahan Sewa or mParivahan, or use Kiwi Insurance to check your RC status.

Driving licence services in Nagaland

Licence work in Nagaland runs through Sarathi in a set order: The learner’s licence first, then the driving test, then the licence itself. Renewals and the International Driving Permit are applied for on Sarathi too, and an office visit comes only where a step needs you in person.

Each offence in the table below carries the national amount from the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019. A challan in Nagaland can still show a different amount, as the state may compound some offences at its own amounts, so the challan decides what you pay.

To clear a challan on an NL number, check the Parivahan e-challan portal at echallan.parivahan.gov.in or the mParivahan app first, and the payment can then be made on the same page.

Worth knowing: Driving uninsured costs ₹2,000 the first time and ₹4,000 after that, and a valid policy on an NL car avoids that fine. The car insurance section shows how the policy links to the RTO.

The documents asked for can differ by vehicle, state and office, so check the current list with the office or on the Parivahan Sewa website before you start. If you are leaving Nagaland, the steps run the other way: The NOC comes from your district office, the car is registered and taxed in the new state, and you claim the unused tax back here.

A Bharat series (BH) number plate is a registration number that is valid anywhere in India. It has no state code such as NL, so the owner needs no No Objection Certificate (NOC) or new registration after moving to another state, which suits people whose jobs move them around the country. The series started with G.S.R. 594(E) of 26 August 2021, in force from 15 September 2021, and G.S.R. 879(E) of 14 December 2022 later allowed a BH vehicle to change owners and an existing registration to be converted.

Eligibility depends on your employer. Staff of the Central or a state government, the defence forces and public sector bodies qualify, and private sector staff qualify when their 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: Nagaland’s own road tax is a single 6% of the price, paid at registration and good for 15 years, while the BH tax of 8% to 12% of the price is paid 2 years at a time.

Every form a Nagaland office accepts comes from the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, so the set is the same across India. Fill the form online on Vahan or Sarathi first, and use the PDF only if an office still wants a paper copy.

A used car sale uses two of these forms in a set order: The seller files Form 29, then seller and buyer file Form 30 together, as the ownership transfer steps show. The buyer then has 14 days from the change of RC to move the insurance.

Worth knowing: Each form goes to the office named by the code on your RC, so an NL-01 car is handled in Kohima and an NL-02 car in Mokokchung. Before travelling, check the document list on the Parivahan Sewa website, as some offices also ask for address proof or a PUC certificate. Forms that are not on these cards are on the forms page of the Parivahan Sewa website.

How your policy follows the RTO record in Nagaland

The policy and the RTO record move together at three points. A new car is insured first and registered second. At an ownership transfer, the RC changes name and the policy follows within 14 days. After a move or a re-registration, inform your insurer of the new NL number, and the two records match again.

Worth knowing: When the RTO transfer and the insurer transfer are both done inside the same fortnight, the car stays covered from the day of the sale onwards.