A Matter of Specialised Security

VEHICLE NUMBER PLATES IN INDIA HAVE COME A LONG WAY FROM BEING SOURCED FROM THE UNORGANISED SECTOR TO STATE-OF-THE-ART, GOVT. APPROVED MANUFACTURERS. AUTOCAR PROFESSIONAL SPOKE WITH SHIMNIT INDIA PVT. LTD., A COMPANY THAT SPECIALISES IN HSRP TO FIND OUT MORE.

It was almost two decades ago that the system of High-Security Registration Plates (HSRP) was introduced for all vehicles by the Government of India (Gol) to help transform personal safety and national security. And yet little is known about it. So Autocar Professional decided to interview the second-generation dynamic entrepreneurs Rushang Shah, Promoter & Director, and Dhruv Patel, Director - who both lead Shimnit India Pvt. Ltd., the company that truly spearheaded the HSRP revolution in our country.

Excerpts from the interview:

When and why was the HSRP system introduced and mandated in our country by way of legislation?

RS: The HSRP system was first introduced by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH), GOI vide Notification dated 22nd August 2001. The order is called the 'Motor Vehicles (New High-Security Registration Plates) Order, 2001'. It came into force on 28th September 2001 for new vehicles and all old vehicles plying on the road had two years time from the date of publication of the official gazette to adopt the new HSRP regime. Subsequently, as per the notifications dated 4th and 6th December 2018 respectively, the 16th amendment to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 was introduced whereby the vehicle manufacturers were to ensure that all new vehicles were sold fitted with HSRP. The new notification rules came into force for new vehicles from 1st April 2019.

The HSRP system was introduced to bring about a change in the license plate regime to obtain standardization of number plates. The idea was to create a national database of vehicles plying on the road and to exercise complete control over issuance of license plates to vehicle owners in the interest of checking crimes for personal safety and national security.