West Bengal: RTO code list and details

West Bengal RTOs, from the Public Vehicles Department offices in Kolkata to the district offices, are run by the state Transport Department. A private car registered at the Behala office in Kolkata, for example, gets a number that starts WB 10, where WB is the state code and 10 is the office code.

Take WB 10 AB 1234, a private car registered in Kolkata. WB is the state code for West Bengal, 10 is the code the Behala office uses for private vehicles, AB is the letter series, and 1234 is the four-digit number.

West Bengal plates can be confusing, as many offices have two codes. The Behala office uses WB-09 for transport vehicles, such as taxis and buses, and WB-10 for private cars and two-wheelers. Some codes are also shared by two offices, which use different letter series.

If the owner of that Behala car moves to Siliguri, the plate still reads WB 10, as the code does not change with a move inside West Bengal. Only a new registration outside West Bengal, or a change to the registration details, gives the car a different code.

The One RTO One Code series in West Bengal

West Bengal has since moved to the One RTO One Code change, under which each RTO issues one series. At Salt Lake RTO, for example, the series is WB 07V. A car registered earlier under the paired codes, such as the WB-10 car from Behala, keeps the number on its plate.

Worth knowing: The WB code shows the office where the car was first registered. A Kolkata car on a WB plate can still be driven anywhere in India.

Older West Bengal cars and HSRP

Take a WB-10 car registered at Behala in 2016. As it was registered before 1 April 2019, it needs an HSRP fitted by the date West Bengal sets.

Worth knowing: To book the installation for a WB vehicle, use the HSRP booking portal named on the West Bengal Transport Department website, which also gives the date for your vehicle. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways set the rule through two notifications in December 2018, G.S.R. 1162(E) on the 4th and S.O. 6052 on the 6th.

In West Bengal, the code on a plate depends on the office that registered the vehicle and on whether it is a transport or a private vehicle. Where two offices share a code, each one uses its own range of letter series.

Full list pending: Codes for the other West Bengal offices, including Beltala, Salt Lake and Kasba in Kolkata, will be added here once they are checked against an official Transport Department list.

In Kolkata, vehicles are registered by the Public Vehicles Department, which has its main office at 38 Beltala Road and offices at Kasba, Salt Lake (Bidhannagar) and Behala. The Behala office uses WB-09 for transport vehicles and WB-10 for private vehicles.

Around Kolkata, the district and sub-divisional offices at Alipore, Barasat, Barrackpore and Howrah register vehicles for their own areas. Which one registers your car depends on the address on your Registration Certificate (RC), so an owner in Howrah, for example, goes to the Howrah office.

Outside Kolkata, a car is registered at the office for its town. A private car registered in Haldia, for example, gets WB-32 with a letter series from N to Z, while one registered in Contai gets WB-32 with a series up to M.

The district column uses the names of 2015, and Jhargram has since become a district of its own. Codes for other towns, such as Siliguri, Durgapur and Asansol, are not shown until they are checked against an official Transport Department list. Until then, the code on your Registration Certificate (RC) or on Vahan shows which office registered your car.

West Bengal charges road tax when a vehicle is first registered in the state, as a percentage of its value with a minimum amount by engine size. A new car can pay lifetime tax at 10% or one-time tax at 5.5%, and a new two-wheeler pays lifetime tax at 6.5% to 10%.

For example, a car worth ₹6 lakhs with an engine up to 900cc pays lifetime tax of 10%, which is ₹60,000, or one-time tax of 5.5%, which is ₹33,000. A car worth ₹3.5 lakhs in the same band would work out at ₹35,000 of lifetime tax, so it pays the ₹40,000 minimum instead.

For example, a moped worth ₹40,000 with an engine up to 80cc pays 6.5%, which is ₹2,600. A scooter worth ₹80,000 with a 110cc engine pays 9%, which is ₹7,200.

The state can revise these rates, so confirm the amount on Vahan before paying.

A new car registered at Behala in Kolkata pays an RTO fee of ₹600, and a new motorcycle registered there pays ₹300. The fees come from Rule 81 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, a national rule, so an office in Haldia or Siliguri charges the same.

Worth knowing: For the Kolkata car, the HSRP fitting, West Bengal road tax and any state service charges come on top of the RTO fee.

Buy a new car from a dealer in Kolkata, and the dealer usually registers it for you on the Vahan portal, so the car seldom needs to visit the RTO. The price includes the road tax and registration fee, and the RTO sends the Registration Certificate (RC) after approving the application.

Important to know: Any valid policy lets the dealer register the car, including one you buy yourself. Compare the options for your Kolkata car before delivery day and pick the cover you want.

Say the owner of a WB-10 car in Behala sells it to a buyer in Salt Lake. The Registration Certificate (RC) is moved into the buyer’s name on Vahan or at the RTO shown on the RC, here Behala, and the fee for a car is ₹300.

The buyer in Salt Lake then has 14 days from the transfer to take over the insurance.

Removing a loan (hypothecation) from the RC in West Bengal

If the Kolkata car was bought on a bank loan, Form 34 recorded the loan on the RC. Once that loan is paid off, the owner collects the lender’s No Objection Certificate (NOC) and Form 35 and applies on Vahan. The Behala office then issues a fresh RC that no longer lists the bank.

A Kolkata owner who needs a new address on a WB-10 RC starts on the Vahan portal, and a learner driver in Siliguri starts on the Sarathi portal. Both portals belong to the Parivahan Sewa website, and the RTO itself is needed only for steps such as the driving test.

Duplicate RC and RC status check in West Bengal

Suppose the RC of the WB-10 car from Behala goes missing, is stolen or gets damaged. Its owner fills in Form 26 for a duplicate and pays ₹300, the fee for a car. The duplicate keeps the same registration number. Progress on the application, and the RC record itself, can be checked on Parivahan Sewa or the mParivahan app, or you can check your RC status on Kiwi Insurance.

Driving licence services in West Bengal

Licence work in West Bengal runs on Sarathi. A new driver in Howrah, for example, applies there for a learner’s licence, books the driving test and later gets the permanent licence. Renewal and the International Driving Permit are on Sarathi too, with Form 2 and Form 4A.

Take a WB-10 car stopped in Kolkata with no valid policy. The driver is fined ₹2,000 the first time and ₹4,000 for every later offence, under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, which also sets the other amounts below.

West Bengal can compound some offences at its own amounts, so the challan for a WB vehicle shows the amount that is due. For the Kolkata car, the owner enters the vehicle or challan number on the Parivahan e-challan portal, echallan.parivahan.gov.in, or in mParivahan, and pays there.

Worth knowing: The uninsured driving fine is the one line in this table that a valid policy rules out. See car insurance in West Bengal below.

If you are leaving West Bengal, for example with a WB-10 car from Kolkata, get the NOC from the Behala office before the car leaves the state. After the car is registered in the new state, apply for a refund of the unused West Bengal road tax.

A Bharat series (BH) number plate is a registration number for private vehicles that is valid in every state, so it has no WB code. An owner who leaves West Bengal with a BH car does not need a No Objection Certificate (NOC) or a new registration in the next state. It is meant for people who are transferred often, for example a central government officer posted to Kolkata for two years. BH plates have been issued since 15 September 2021, when G.S.R. 594(E), notified on 26 August 2021, came into force.

For the Kolkata officer, the BH tax is paid every 2 years rather than once. A car on a regular WB number instead pays West Bengal road tax at registration, either lifetime tax of 10% or one-time tax of 5.5% of its value, each with a minimum by engine size.

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. If the officer from Kolkata later moves on, there is no road tax refund to claim. G.S.R. 879(E) of 14 December 2022 then added rules on selling a BH car and on converting an existing registration to the series.

The forms a Kolkata owner needs are national ones, set by the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, so they are the same in West Bengal as in any other state. Most can be filled in online on Vahan or Sarathi, and each card links to the official PDF on the Parivahan Sewa website for an office that still requires a paper form.

For the Behala car sold to a buyer in Salt Lake, Form 29 and Form 30 go in together. From the day the RC is in the buyer’s name, the 14-day period to move the insurance begins.

Worth knowing: Send each form to the office whose code is on your RC, so a WB-10 car goes to Behala in Kolkata. For the Behala car, a service may also require address proof or a Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate, and each service’s document list is on the Parivahan Sewa website. Any form not in this grid is on the full list of RTO forms on the Parivahan Sewa website.

How your insurance links to the West Bengal RTO

Follow the Kolkata car through its life. It is insured before the Behala office registers it. When it is sold, the new owner has 14 days to move the policy into their name. If it is later registered again, for example after a move to another state, inform your insurer so the policy carries the new number.

Worth knowing: When the Behala car changes hands, aim to finish the RC transfer and the policy transfer in the same 14 days, so there is no gap in cover.