Held stakeholders' meet on high security registration plates, Karnataka govt informs HC

Bengaluru: The state government on Wednesday informed the Karnataka High Court that it had convened a stakeholders' meeting on December 1 to discuss the implementation of High Security Registration Plates (HSRPs).

Additional Advocate General Vikram Huilgol placed a copy of the minutes of the meeting, chaired by the Commissioner of Transport and Road Safety in Bengaluru, before a division bench headed by Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale. The court has deferred further proceedings on this matter till December 14.

The government said the meeting was attended by members of the HSRP Manufacturers' Association of India and 19 others, including several manufacturers.

Participants urged the government to authorise their support for the HSRP scheme's implementation in the state. They highlighted the absence of a mechanism for concurrent mapping of all vendors in the same Regional Transport Office (RTO), according to 'Vahan'.

The Transport Department said it had adopted the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) route, authorising manufacturers to assist in the implementation, mirroring the statutory procedure for new vehicles.

Hearing a PIL petition and connected appeals, including the appeal by the state government, the division bench on October 25 stated that a portion of the September 20, 2023, interim order of the single bench would be kept in abeyance.

This required the state to finalise and publish within 15 days the process to be followed by vehicle manufacturers to accord approval to every licence plate manufacturer with a Type Approval Certificate.