Telengana: RTO code list and details

Telangana RTOs are run by the state Transport Department, which moved new plates from TS to TG in 2024. Every vehicle registered in the state carries the TG code, or TS if it was registered before 2024, followed by the number of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) that registered it.

Read a Telangana plate in four parts, using TG 09 AB 1234 as the example: TG stands for Telangana, 09 for the Khairatabad RTO in Hyderabad, AB for the series and 1234 for the four-digit number.

Hyderabad causes the most confusion. The city has five zone offices, each with its own code, and the code on a Hyderabad car depends on which zone registered it, not on where the owner lives today.

If you move house within Telangana, keep the number you have. The TG-11 code, or TS-11 on an older car, does not change for a move to another part of Telangana. You get a new number only if the vehicle is re-registered outside Telangana, or its registration details are changed.

Look at the registration date on your RC to know where you stand. A Telangana vehicle bought new on or after 1 April 2019 was delivered with a High Security Registration Plate (HSRP), fitted by the maker and dealer, and an older TS vehicle needs one fitted. Every vehicle must have the plate under Rule 50 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.

If you need the legal source, look up two notifications from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH): G.S.R. 1162(E), issued on 4 December 2018, and S.O. 6052, issued two days later on 6 December 2018.

Getting the plate fitted on an older Telangana vehicle

If your vehicle was registered before 1 April 2019, get the High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) fitted by the date Telangana sets for it. A TS-09 car and a TG-09 car need the same plate.

Worth knowing: Go to the booking portal named on the Telangana transport department website to book the plate installation, and look up there the date that applies to your TG or TS vehicle.

Telangana RTO codes run from TG-01 to TG-38, and each one replaced the TS code with the same number. Hyderabad has five zone offices, Uppal and Ibrahimpatnam are Regional Transport Authority (RTA) offices, and most other districts have one District Transport Office (DTO).

Check the Telangana Transport Department office directory for the latest version, as this table follows it and changes when an office moves or a new one opens.

Hyderabad district has five RTO zone offices: Khairatabad (TG-09), Secunderabad (TG-10), Malakpet (TG-11), Bandlaguda (TG-12) and Tolichowki (TG-13). Uppal (TG-08) and Ibrahimpatnam (TG-07), both Regional Transport Authority (RTA) offices, register vehicles in Medchal and Rangareddy districts.

Medchal district also has a District Transport Office at Medchal and a unit office at Kukatpally, and driving tests in the city take place at test tracks such as the one at Nagole.

Use this section if your car is registered in Karimnagar, Khammam or Warangal, the offices outside Hyderabad that people look up most. Each one handles registration, driving licences and road tax like any other Telangana RTO.

Karimnagar RTO (TG-02)

Karimnagar RTO has the code TG-02, and older vehicles registered there carry TS-02. Nearby Jagityal (TG-21), Peddapally (TG-22) and Rajanna Siricilla (TG-23) have their own offices.

Khammam RTO (TG-04)

Khammam RTO has the code TG-04, and older vehicles registered there carry TS-04. Bhadradri Kothagudem, next to Khammam, has its own office with the code TG-28.

Warangal and Hanumakonda RTOs (TG-24 and TG-03)

Warangal has the code TG-24 and Hanumakonda has TG-03, so the two neighbouring towns register vehicles at separate offices. Older vehicles carry TS-24 and TS-03.

Telangana charges life tax once, when a vehicle is first registered in the state. The rate depends on the car’s cost and on who owns it: A car owned by an individual pays 13% to 21%, and a company-owned car or an individual’s second car pays 15% to 25%.

For example, a car costing ₹4.8 lakhs pays 13%, which is ₹62,400 of life tax, and the ₹5,000 road safety cess is added to this. The same car registered as a second car pays 15%, which is ₹72,000. Expect the dealer to collect this as part of a new car’s on-road price.

Life tax on two-wheelers in Telangana

Motorcycles and scooters owned by an individual pay life tax by cost, under the same order.

Check the amount on the Transport Department portal before you pay, as the state can change these rates.

Budget for these service fees when you register a vehicle, transfer it, or renew or replace its Registration Certificate (RC) in Telangana. They are set by Rule 81 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, so you pay the same amount at Khairatabad as at Adilabad.

Add to these: The HSRP, the life tax, the road safety cess and any state service charge, which are all paid separately. Check every line in the total before you pay.

Important to know: Choose your own insurer if you prefer. The dealer needs only a valid policy to register the car, so buy one yourself before delivery day and compare plans first.

Apply at the RTO whose code is on the RC, or online through the department portal, to move a used car into the buyer’s name. For a TS-10 car, that is the Secunderabad office, the same as for TG-10.

Removing a loan (hypothecation) from the RC in Telangana

Cleared your car loan? Ask the lender for its No Objection Certificate and a signed Form 35, then apply to remove the hypothecation, and the RTO will issue an updated RC without the lender’s name. Form 34 is the form a lender uses to add a loan to the RC in the first place.

Start most Telangana RTO work on the Transport Department’s own portal for citizen services, where you can also search a vehicle’s registration details and check whether its tax is paid. In many other states the same work runs on the Vahan portal for vehicles and the Sarathi portal for licences, so follow the department portal to the right service.

Duplicate RC and RC status check in Telangana

Apply for a duplicate with Form 26 if your RC is lost, stolen or damaged, through the department portal or at the RTO on the RC, and pay the duplicate RC fee from the fees table. To see where a TG or TS registration stands, search it on the department portal, check RC status on Parivahan Sewa or mParivahan, or check your RC status with Kiwi Insurance.

Driving licence services in Telangana

Apply for a learner’s licence, book the driving test, renew a licence or ask for an International Driving Permit through the department portal, which sends you on to Sarathi where a service runs there. Take the test itself at a track such as the one at Nagole.

Search your TG or TS number on the Parivahan e-challan portal to find any challan, then pay the amount shown there. That amount can differ from the table, as the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 sets the fines and Telangana can compound some offences at its own amounts.

In each row, the first amount is for a first offence and the second for a repeat. Use echallan.parivahan.gov.in or the mParivahan app to make the payment.

Keep in mind: Renew your policy before it lapses to avoid the first fine in the table. Driving uninsured costs ₹2,000 the first time, and a valid policy is all it takes to stay clear of it.

If you are leaving Telangana, start with your own RTO: Ask it for the No Objection Certificate (NOC) before you go, register the car in the new state, and then apply for a refund of the unused Telangana life tax.

A Bharat series (BH) number is a registration that is valid in every state, so the plate shows BH where a TG plate shows the state. If you move to another state with it, you need no No Objection Certificate (NOC) and no new number. Ask your dealer for one if your job moves you between states.

The scheme comes from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) notification G.S.R. 594(E), dated 26 August 2021, which took effect on 15 September 2021. If you later sell a Bharat series (BH) vehicle, or want to convert an existing registration, G.S.R. 879(E) of 14 December 2022 allows both.

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.

Compare the two before you choose: A TG car owned by an individual pays a one-time life tax of 13% to 21% of its cost plus the road safety cess, while a BH car pays the rate above every 2 years.

Keep in mind: When you leave Telangana with a BH car, you skip the No Objection Certificate and the new registration, and there is no Telangana life tax to claim back.

For a used car sale, fill in Form 29 and Form 30 together. Then, as the buyer, transfer the policy within 14 days of the RC change.

Worth knowing: Take each form to the RTO whose code is on your RC, such as TG-09 at Khairatabad or TG-03 in Hanumakonda. A TS-09 RC goes to the same Khairatabad office. Look at the document list on the Parivahan Sewa website before you go, in case address proof or a Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate is also needed. For any other form, open the forms page of the Parivahan Sewa website.

Worth knowing: Plan both transfers together. Book the RC change at the RTO and the policy change with the insurer in the same fortnight, so the car is never left without cover.