Last updated: October 2026
If you bring a vehicle registered in another state and keep it in Kerala for more than 12 months, you must apply for a new Kerala registration mark and pay Kerala road tax. That is Section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act. The sequence is: get a No Objection Certificate on Form 28 from the RTO where the vehicle is registered, file Form 27 at the Kerala RTO, pay the Kerala tax and fee assessed, and take the new KL number and RC. Afterwards you can claim a pro-rata refund of the unused road tax from the state you left. A stay of 12 months or less needs no re-registration.
Section 47 is about how long the vehicle is kept in Kerala, not when you bought it. Three cases cover almost everyone:
Paying some Kerala tax online by itself does not complete this process. The legal step is the assignment of a new mark; tax is assessed as part of that application.
Nothing in Kerala can finish until the origin RTO clears the vehicle. Apply there on Form 28, in triplicate, or four copies if the vehicle is under a loan, because the financier's consent must be recorded on it. Under Section 48 the origin RTO checks that tax is paid up to date, that no demand is pending, and obtains a police report that no theft case is reported or pending. It has 30 days to grant the NOC or refuse it in writing, with reasons.
Clear pending challans, unpaid old-state tax and loan paperwork first, because each can hold the NOC up. RTOs commonly treat an issued NOC as usable for about six months, so do not collect it months early. Our guide to the reverse journey, NOC for car transfer from Kerala to another state, covers the same Form 28 paperwork from the Kerala side.
If the NOC has not been issued, Section 47 still lets you file in Kerala with the receipt for your NOC application, or the postal acknowledgement if you applied by registered post, plus a declaration that no refusal was communicated to you. That route is slower, so a granted NOC in hand is better.
The central fee schedule for the issue of a certificate of registration and assignment of a new registration mark is fixed by vehicle class:
| Vehicle class | Assignment fee |
|---|---|
| Invalid carriage | Rs.50 |
| Motorcycle (two-wheeler) | Rs.300 |
| Three-wheeler, quadricycle or LMV (non-transport, including a private car) | Rs.600 |
| LMV (transport) | Rs.1,000 |
| Medium goods or passenger vehicle | Rs.1,000 |
| Heavy goods or passenger vehicle | Rs.1,500 |
| Imported motorcycle | Rs.2,500 |
| Imported motor vehicle | Rs.5,000 |
| Any other vehicle not listed above | Rs.3,000 |
Add Rs.200 if the new RC is issued as a smart card. The NOC fee is set by the origin state, not Kerala. These fees are small; the real cost is the Kerala road tax below. Anything a helper charges above this table is a service charge, so ask for an itemised quote.
Road tax does not transfer between states. Kerala levies its own lifetime tax under the Kerala Motor Vehicles Taxation Act when the new mark is assigned, even if you paid lifetime tax in the old state. Two principles decide the amount:
For reference, the current Kerala lifetime slabs for a new private car, the starting point for the assessment, are 10% up to Rs.5 lakh, 13% from Rs.5 to Rs.10 lakh, 15% from Rs.10 to Rs.15 lakh, 17% from Rs.15 to Rs.20 lakh, and 22% above Rs.20 lakh, all on the ex-showroom price. Full tables and worked examples are in our Kerala road tax calculator post.
What I could not verify: no current official Kerala depreciation table for incoming vehicles could be verified on parivahan.gov.in or mvd.kerala.gov.in at research time, because neither site responded. Tables circulating online conflict, and some still use the old 9% to 21% slabs, so do not budget from them. The Vahan fee panel shows the exact tax for your vehicle before you pay; treat that as final. Vehicles over 15 years old will also face fitness and green tax questions.
The vehicle stays on the old state's record while living in Kerala. Kerala can demand its tax for the period kept here, and any later sale, insurance claim or transfer starts with this unfinished move. The fix is the Form 27 application itself.
BH is designed to avoid repeated re-registration for owners who move often, but it is chosen at registration by eligible owners. It is not a conversion for an existing vehicle mid-move, and no official Kerala conversion procedure could be verified. If you are buying new, read our BH series registration in Kerala post first.
Yes, for up to 12 months from when the vehicle is brought into Kerala. Beyond that, Section 47 requires a new Kerala registration mark.
Up front, yes. Kerala does not credit the old state's tax. Your remedy is a pro-rata refund claim for the unused period, filed with the old state after Kerala re-registration.
No. A new mark means a new KL number, a new RC and new HSRP plates.
The origin RTO has 30 days under Section 48 to grant or refuse the NOC in writing. No fixed official timeline for the Kerala stage could be verified, so track the application on Vahan.
Take whatever purchase papers you have. Where the invoice is missing, the RTO works out the value from its records, and the tax on the Vahan panel is what you pay.
Fees and rules change without notice. Verify all fees and rules on parivahan.gov.in before applying, and treat the tax and fee total shown on your own Vahan application as the final figure.
Keralam Transport