Vehicle Number Plates Rules and Guidelines – Traffic Police Mumbai

“As per traffic rules of Mumbai (India), Below are the guidelines and rules for number plates (Both Front and Rear) used on various vehicle types. Traffic police strongly advice to follow the laid guidelines for Font used, Height, Width and Spacing, Number of lines permitted and used for Number and Letters on plates of two wheeler, 3 wheeler and 4 wheeler which does not limit to bikes, auto’s, taxi’s, private cars, rental cars, commercial vehicles used for transportation, trade vehicles, temporary registered, diplomats etc. Check your vehicle number plate as the recommended font is Times Roman and Arabic and see other rules and details..”

Vehicle Type, Fonts, Height, Width and Spacing Guidelines

To standardize the fonts used for numbers and letters on all vehicle, Traffic police of Mumbai suggest to have a common Times Roman Font. But sadly most two wheeler and many private cars too uses various fancy fonts which are sometimes not visible when vehicle is in motion or at a particular distance. The use of such fancy stylish fonts for numbers on plates that makes it read like a fancy word (Example : Displaying 4141 using a fancy font looks like the word DADA in Hindi) is also very commonly seen. One should stop this practice, else can fall prey to traffic police under lawful offence and face fines and penalties. Checkout the picture of vehicle which displays such stylish fonts and innovative illegal ways. Below are the recommended size of fonts, spacing details between two numbers or Characters to be used on Number plates (Both Front and Rear) of your registered vehicle (Two Wheeler’s, Three Wheeler’s, Four Wheeler’s) which are not limited to cars or commercial, But each and every vehicle on road.

Below 70 CC : For motor cycle (Bikes etc) which have a below 70 CC engine power, a compulsory font Height of 15 mm, Width of 2.5 mm with 2.5 mm of spacing is must for LETTERS and NUMBERS used on front number plate.
Above 70 CC and Handicap 3 Wheeler vehicles : FRONT NUMBER PLATE Should have Height of 30 mm, Width of 5 mm and spacing of 5 mm for both Numbers and Letters used. REAR NUMBER PLATE must have Height of 35 mm, Width of 7 mm and spacing of 5 mm with and extra 2 mm width (i.e 7 mm) for Numbers.
Less then 500 CC : 3 Wheeler’s should have a Height of 35 mm, Width of 7 mm and Spacing of 5 mm for both front and rear plates (LETTERS & NUMBERS).
All Other Vehicles : For any other vehicle (Bikes, Car or any) which does not fall into any of the above categories, the Front and Rear number plates should have 65 mm Height, 10 mm Width, 10 mm Spacing for both LETTERS and NUMBERS.

Colours to Be Used On Number Plates

To identify the vehicle type of each category, Mumbai traffic department have laid guidelines and rules for number plates colouring which have 3 major difference (Number of lines used in vehicle, Background colour and Colours of Letters and Numbers). This identifies and differentiates between a private, commercial transport, trade certified, temporary registered, rental cabs, diplomat vehicles (Delhi and Other Locations). Below are the guidelines and rules for same. In case of 2 lines used on plates, the first line should have state and registering authority code ( Example : MH 02 ) and Second line should have Other details ( M 2289 ). See Number series to Location Name details.