Singapore envoy to India, Simon Wong, on Sunday shared photographs of a car spotted in national capital Delhi, bearing a distinctive black-on-yellow number plate, displaying "Haryana 30" in bold block letters. Sharing his discovery on X, an intrigued Wong wrote, "Spotted a car with an unusual plate travelling into Delhi. Does anyone know what kind of car number this is?"
Singapore's High Commissioner's post soon caught the attention of social media users, with several microbloggers pointing out that the said number plate appears to be a "vanity" project, which is not a standard format for commercial vehicles.
An X user, who goes by the name z_aqua posted, "Black on the yellow number plate is, in general, a commercial vehicle which does not need a commercial driving permit, it's legal BUT in this case, it's vanity since it just shows a state name not the number of the car."
Another user named Rezaul Hasan Laskar said, "If it's legal, a vanity number which one can buy by paying extra. If it's illegal, some guy who's going to get busted sooner or later."
What Does Black Number Place Signify?
The Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) are responsible for issuing number plates for vehicles after their registration under The Motor Vehicles Act, of 1988. There are 8 different types of number plates issued by the RTO.
The most common type of number plate in India is the white number plate, which is used for personal vehicles. However, some vehicles feature distinctive black plates with yellow or white lettering.
Black number plates are used for self-rental commercial vehicles (bikes and cars) in India. However, the driver doesn’t require a commercial driving licence to drive a black number plate vehicle.
To get a black number plate, a company must register and comply with specific regulations, submit required documents like Form 20, Form 21, Form 22 and a valid insurance policy. The cost of acquiring a black number plate typically ranges from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000.