Varanasi RTO: UP-65 and UP-65A offices and codes

Varanasi has two RTO codes. UP-65 belongs to the Regional Transport Office (RTO), and UP-65A to an additional office that the Uttar Pradesh Transport Department lists for the same district. Only Lucknow shares this pattern in the state, so a Varanasi car can carry either code.

Start from the left of UP 65 AB 1234. UP tells you the car was registered in Uttar Pradesh. 65 tells you the office was in Varanasi. AB is the series of letters, and 1234 is the four-digit number given to this car and no other.

Worth knowing: On the Transport Department list, UP-65A is the code of the additional office, so check your Registration Certificate (RC) to see which of the two Varanasi codes your car was given. Whichever it is, it stays put when you move within Varanasi or to another UP district. A new code comes only with a fresh registration outside Uttar Pradesh, or when its registration details are changed.

Buying new in Varanasi? Your car comes with a High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) put on by the dealer, whichever of the two offices registers it. Rule 50 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 made that the rule for new vehicles from 1 April 2019.

Worth knowing: Driving an older UP-65 or UP-65A car? It needs an HSRP as well. Look up the booking portal on the Uttar Pradesh Transport Department website to book the installation and find your deadline. Sizes and older-car rules: See our Uttar Pradesh RTO guide.

Two entries on the Transport Department list are Varanasi’s own: UP-65 for the Regional Transport Office and UP-65A for the additional office. Some code lists still show only UP-65, so do not be surprised to find UP-65A on a Varanasi RC.

Bhadohi and Chandauli, both reported to have been formed from Varanasi district, now register cars at their own offices under UP-66 and UP-67. Jaunpur has UP-62.

Before you set off, check two things. First, the code on your RC, UP-65 or UP-65A, tells you which office keeps your file. Second, confirm the address, as directories disagree about where the Varanasi offices are and no official page could be opened.

Varanasi RTO office, UP-65

Two directories put the main office on Babatpur Road, near the gas plant. A third lists it in Nagwa instead, at the address it also gives for UP-65A, and one older listing mentions Sarnath. Ask the office or the Transport Department which is current.

Varanasi additional office, UP-65A

One directory lists the UP-65A office as the Varanasi extension office, an Assistant Regional Transport Office (ARTO). Only one directory gives an address for it, in Gandhi Nagar, Nagwa, and none says which parts of the district it serves.

Any address inside Varanasi district registers in Varanasi, under UP-65 or UP-65A. What you will not find is an official list saying which neighbourhoods go to which code. Addresses in Bhadohi, Chandauli or Jaunpur go to those districts’ offices.

Buying a new car and want to know which code it will get? Ask the dealer which Varanasi office it files with. For a car you already own, the code is printed on the RC, or you can type the number into the finder above.

Worth knowing: Shifting from one side of Varanasi to the other does not swap a UP-65 number for UP-65A. Keep your number, correct the RC address and inform your insurer of the change.

Do the UP-65 and UP-65A offices charge different fees? No. RTO fees are set nationally, so Varanasi charges what Jaunpur or Prayagraj does for the same service. On a new car the dealer pays them through Vahan while registering it, and for later work you pay them on Vahan yourself.

A Varanasi example: Check your first-car paperwork for three RTO fees if you bought on a loan. Registration is ₹600, the smart card RC ₹200 and the hypothecation entry ₹1,500, so ₹2,300 in all before any road tax.

An older car costs more to keep registered. Renewal at 15 years is ₹5,000 for a car, renewal after 20 is ₹10,000, and missing the date adds ₹500 per month for a car and ₹300 per month for a motorcycle.

Worth knowing: Your Vahan receipt may show more than these Rule 81 fees, as road tax, the HSRP and any Uttar Pradesh service or postal charge are added separately.

The dealer files on Vahan, and the Varanasi office that approves it gives the code

Your dealer registers the new car for you. It applies on Vahan with your Varanasi address, one of the two Varanasi offices approves the application, and that office’s code, UP-65 or UP-65A, goes on the number.

Selling a Varanasi car within Uttar Pradesh? The number stays. You file Form 29, you and the buyer sign Form 30, and the ₹300 car fee is paid on Vahan to the office on the RC, UP-65 or UP-65A.

Selling to someone in Bihar or another state? Get a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from your Varanasi office first. The buyer must transfer the insurance within 14 days.

Clearing a loan (hypothecation) from a Varanasi RC

Paid off the loan? Collect the bank’s No Objection Certificate and Form 35, apply on Vahan, and your Varanasi office issues an RC without the bank’s name, with no fee. The upload list for closing a loan on a UP-65 or UP-65A car is part of our Uttar Pradesh RTO guide.

Start online, not at the counter. The Vahan portal takes vehicle applications for UP-65 and UP-65A cars, the Sarathi portal takes licence applications, and the office named on your RC finishes the vehicle ones.

Duplicate RC and RC status check in Varanasi

Lost your RC? File Form 26 on Vahan for a duplicate, ₹300 for a car. Waiting for it? The Kiwi Insurance tool lets you check your RC status online.

Driving licence services in Varanasi

New to driving? Apply for the learner’s licence on Sarathi and pick a test date there, then sit the test in person. Licence renewals start on Sarathi too, and our Uttar Pradesh RTO guide covers the rest.

Caught without insurance in Varanasi? Section 196 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 sets the fine at ₹2,000 for the first offence and ₹4,000 for the next and every later one, the same as anywhere in India.

Have a challan on your UP-65 or UP-65A car? Search the number and clear the fine on echallan.parivahan.gov.in or in mParivahan. The wider list is in our Uttar Pradesh RTO guide.

Bihar lies a short way east of Varanasi, beyond Chandauli district, but a move from there is still a move between states. A BR-registered car can run on its old number for up to 12 months in Uttar Pradesh, then it needs a UP-65 or UP-65A number. A car from Gorakhpur or Prayagraj is already a UP car and keeps its number.

Leaving Uttar Pradesh for a job in another state? Reverse the steps. Ask your Varanasi office for the No Objection Certificate (NOC) on Form 28, register the car in the new state, and then apply for the unused UP road tax to be refunded.

Worth knowing: Inform your insurer when you change address, and again when the car is given its Varanasi number. For refund forms, use our Uttar Pradesh RTO guide.

Posted to Varanasi now and somewhere else later? Ask about the Bharat series (BH). You qualify as a government, defence or public sector employee, or a private sector employee of a company with offices in 4 or more states or union territories, who applies with Form 60.

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. BH road tax is 8% on a car below ₹10 lakhs, due every second year. Our Uttar Pradesh RTO guide has the details.

Both Varanasi offices take these national forms. Fill most of them in on Vahan or Sarathi, and print the PDF only if an office asks for a paper copy.

Each completed form goes to whichever of UP-65 and UP-65A is printed on your RC. Missing one? Find it on the Parivahan Sewa website.