Do current license plates have to be changed to identification plates from August 15?
From August 15, 2023, license plates will be issued and managed according to the vehicle owner's identification code, also known as identification license plates.
The Ministry of Public Security has issued Circular 24/2023 regulating the issuance and revocation of registration and license plates of motor vehicles. It includes many highlights such as regulations on identification plates and registration of auctioned license plates, which will take effect from August 15.
Circular 24/2023/TT-BCA stipulates transitional provisions. Accordingly, for vehicles registered with 5-digit license plates before August 15, 2023 but have not completed the revocation procedure, that license plate number will be determined as the vehicle owner's identification license plate number.
For vehicles registered with 5-digit license plates, if the vehicle owner has completed the revocation procedure before August 15, 2023, the license plate number will be transferred to the license plate warehouse to issue a new license plate according to regulations.
According to regulations, the identification number plate is retained for the vehicle owner for a period of 5 years from the date of revocation. After the above period, if the vehicle owner has not registered, the identification number plate will be transferred to the license plate warehouse to register another vehicle.
In addition, vehicles that have been registered with 3 or 4-digit license plates are still allowed to participate in traffic, except in cases where the vehicle owner needs to change to a new identification license plate or when the vehicle owner carries out procedures for issuing and changing vehicle registration certificates, issuing and changing license plates, reissuing vehicle registration certificates, reissuing license plates or registering and transferring ownership or moving vehicles according to the provisions of Circular 24/2023/TT-BCA to revoke those 3 or 4-digit license plates and change to new identification license plates according to regulations.
Thus, it is not mandatory for vehicle owners currently using 5-digit license plates to switch to identification plates from August 15, 2023. In case the vehicle owner has completed the recall procedure before August 15, 2023, the license plate number will be transferred to the license plate warehouse to issue license plates according to regulations.
The vehicle registration agency does not limit the number of identification plates each citizen can have. Thus, a person can own multiple car and motorbike license plates at the same time.
