Vehicle registration plates of Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) issues vehicle registration plates for motor vehicles. The vehicle registration plates in Bangladesh use the Bengali alphabet and Bengali numerals. They are produced by Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory, located in Gazipur. The current version of vehicle registration plates started in 1973, and the current digital number plates have been in use since 2012. The international vehicle registration code for Bangladesh is BD.

The general format of vehicle registration plates in Bangladesh is "city - vehicle class letter and number - vehicle number". For example, : "DHAKA-D-11-9999". The "DHAKA" field represents the city name in Bengali letters, the "D" field represents the vehicle class in Bengali letters, the "11" field represents the vehicle's registration series in Bengali numerals and the "9999" field represents the vehicle number of the vehicle in Bengali numerals.

The plates are installed in both the front and rear of the vehicle, with the rear plate permanently attached to the vehicle. The plate is only removed when the vehicle has reached the end of service and has been sold for scrap. New vehicles are not delivered to the purchaser until the plates have been attached at the dealership.

On October 31, 2012, the BRTA started the Digital Number Plate project, where they would start to issue new standardized retro-reflective plates with embossed characters, along with an RFID chip attached to it for tracking purposes. Private vehicles would have black characters on a white background, while commercial vehicles would use black characters on a green background.

Previously, private vehicles would have white characters on a black background, and commercial vehicles would have black characters on a white background, and the characters were sometimes painted on by hand.

In June 2020, the BRTA proposed it’s new idea of personalised number plates, where people can choose their own preferable registrations numbers, with an increased registration fee.

1. If two of the last four digits are repeated, (eg. xx-0011, xx-0022, etc.) the registration fee will be two times higher.
2. If the last four digits are a repeated pair, (eg. xx-1212, xx-5050, etc) the registration fee will be three times higher.
3. If the last four digits are the same, (eg. xx-1111, xx-4444, xx-5555, etc.) the registration fee will be four times higher.
4. If all six digits are a repeated pair, (eg. 20-2020, 35-3535, 42-4242 etc.) the registration fee will be five times higher.
5. If all six digits are the same, (eg. 22-2222, 55-5555, etc.) the registration fee will be six times higher.
6. If the registration number is 77-7777, the registration fee will be seven times higher.

Appearance

Vehicle types
Type	Example	Description
Private	ঢাকা মেট্রো-গ ১১-৯৯৯৯	White plates used by private cars, micro-bus (this colour scheme is also used by older commercial vehicles)
Commercial	ঢাকা মেট্রো-ব ১১-৯৯৯৯	Green plates are used in fare-hire vehicles like taxis, CNGs, and city buses
Diplomatic	সাস-১১১১	Yellow and orange plates are used for the uses of foreign diplomats.
Army	↑ ১১১১১১১	Black plates are for the vehicles that are owned by the Bangladesh Army in use for army officers.
Air Force	↑১১১১১	Used in staff cars of the Bangladesh Air Force.
Navy	বি এন ↑ ১১-১১১	Blue plates are for the vehicles that are owned by the Bangladesh Navy only in use for the naval officers.

Format for Private and Commercial Vehicles

Part 1: Registration Region and Vehicle Class

License plates of Bangladesh are divided into two lines, the first of which displays the city in which the vehicle was registered in, followed by the vehicle's class represented by a Bengali letter.

Part 2: Registration Series and Number

The second line of the license plate shows a six-digit registration number acting as a unique identifier for the vehicle. It consists of a two-digit number representing the registration series it was registered in, followed by a registration number from 0001 to 9999. In older, unupdated vehicles, the plate may not have a two-digit registration series number and instead may only have a 1-4 digit registration number displayed.

The letters permitted in the vehicle registration plate are:

অ ই উ এ ক খ গ ঘ চ ছ জ ঝ ত থ ঢ ড ট ঠ দ ধ ন প ফ ব ভ ম য র ল শ স হ

The numerals permitted in the vehicle registration plate are:

০ ১ ২ ৩ ৪ ৫ ৬ ৭ ৮ ৯

 White  = Private service vehicle
 Green  = Public service vehicle

Vehicle Usage Color	Vehicle Class Letter (Bangla)	BRTA Class Letter (English)	Vehicle Class Number Range		Type of Vehicle
			From	To
White	এ (ae)	A	11	99	up to 100 cc	Motorcycle– Cruiser, Sport, Touring, Standard, Dual-sport, Dirt bike, Scooter
White	হ (haw)	HA	11	99	101 to 125 cc
White	ল (law)	LA	11	99	126 to 165 cc
White	ক (kaw)	KA	11	99	up to 1000 cc	Motorcar– Sedan, Coupe Hatchback, Convertible, Station wagon, Sports car
White	খ (khaw)	KHA	11	99	1001 to 1300 cc
White	গ (gaw)	GA	11	99	1301 to 2000 cc
White	ভ (bhaw)	BHA	11	99	above 2001 cc
White	ঘ (ghaw)	GHA	11	99	SUV, Crossover
White	চ (chaw)	CHA	11	50	Microbus, MPV
White			51	99
Green	প (paw)	PA	11	99	Taxicab
Green	ছ (chhaw)	CAA	11	70	Human hauler
White			71	99	Ambulance
Green	জ (borka-jaw)	JA	11	99	Minibus
White	ঝ (jaw)	JHA	11	99	Coach bus
Green	ব (baw)	BA	11	99	Inter-city & Inter-district bus– Double-decker, Single-decker, Articulated bus
White	স (donta-shaw)	SA	11	99	School bus, College bus
Green	ত (taw)	TWA	11	99	Mishuk	Auto rickshaws
Green	থ (thaw)	TAW	11	99	Baby taxi, CNG
White	দ (daw)	DWA	11	99
Green	ফ (faw)	FA	11	99	Auto tempo
White	ঠ (t'haw)	THA	11	99	Dual-purpose vehicle– pick-up with double cabin, pick-up with single cabin, Panel van, passenger van, prison van, security van, standard van, troop carriage, panel van
White	ম (maw)	MA	51	99	up to 2.5 tonnes	Delivery van, Mini-truck
White			11	50	up to 3.5 tonnes	Truck– Cargo truck (closed or open), Tipper/Dump truck, Cargo van, Covered van, Flatbed truck, Low-bed truck, Bottle carrier, Pole carrier, Demountable truck, Rigid truck
Green	ন (donta-naw)	NA	11	99
White	অ (shorey-aw)	AU	11	99	3.5 to 7.5 tonnes
Green	ড (d'aw)	DA	11	99
White	উ	U	11	99	7.5 to 22 tonnes
Green	ট (t'aw)	TA	11	99
White	ঢ (d'haw)	DHA	11	40	Private articulated vehicle
Green			41	60	Oil tanker, Water tanker
White			61	80	Semi-trailer truck– Flatbed, Lowbed, Container chassis, Gas tanker
Green			81	99
White	শ (talibo-sshaw)	SHA	11	99	Special purpose vehicle– Concrete mixer/pumper, Cement bulker, Constructional truck, Freezer van, Tow truck, Boom truck, Mobile crane, Garbage truck, Streetcleaner, crash tender, earth digger/remover, foam tender, forklift, grander, hearse, invalid carriage, ladder carrier, payloader, refuse vehicle, Small tanker
White	ই (rossho-ee)	E	11	60	Agricultural vehicle – power tiller, tractor
White			61	99	–
White	য (ontosto-jaw)	N/A	Prime Minister's office (any vehicle)
White	র (boye shunno-raw)		President's office (any vehicle)