Road Transport Rules Amended to Allow One-Line Front Number Plates for Motorcycles

The government has amended the Road Transport Rules, 2022 to remove the existing regulatory complications over installing number plates on the front of motorcycles and displaying registration numbers. As a result, the way has become easier to install front number plates taking into account the structural differences of motorcycles.

The notification was issued in an extra issue of the Bangladesh Gazette last Sunday (November 1). Signed by Al-Amin Md Nurul Islam, deputy secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Division, the notification says the amendment was made under the power given in section 122 of the Road Transport Act, 2018, and the amended provision will take effect immediately.

The amended rules keep the opportunity to write a motorcycle's front registration number in one line, alongside the existing format. In the one-line format, a hyphen of a prescribed length can be used after the name of the district or region and the letter indicating the vehicle class.

BRTA has been given the power to determine the size of the front number plate, the height of the letters, and the size of the district or region name and the vehicle-class letter, in keeping with the design and structure of the motorcycle.

Amendments have also been made on measurements. If necessary, the authority will be able to determine the blank space in the magnetic part of the number plate, the length of the gap between two digits, and the length of the hyphen between the digits in the second line.

The Road Transport Ministry has explained why this amendment was made. According to the ministry, for many motorcycle models it was difficult to install a number plate of the conventional size. The opportunity to determine plate size and format in line with the structure has been created to remove this practical difficulty.

According to those concerned, as the number of motorcycles grows on roads and highways in the capital and across the country, the front number plate will play an important role in monitoring vehicles through CCTV and automatic number plate recognition technology. A concerned official of the road ministry said it had become necessary to bring motorcycles under camera coverage, alongside other vehicles, to restore discipline on the roads.

However, BRTA will give further instructions on what size and format of number plate will be installed on which type of motorcycle, it has been learnt.