Vehicle registration plates of Indonesia

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Previous design of Indonesian registration plate for the following cities: Jakarta, Depok, Tangerang which includes South Tangerang, and Bekasi. Those cities are shortened as JADETABEK, the first letter vehicle plate number code for the JADETABEK cities is "B"
The new/current vehicle plate number design of Indonesia. BP identifies the vehicle is registered from Riau Islands region, suffix 1 and H indicates the vehicle type and local area where the plate is registered, and 04.20 identifies the expiry date of the plate which is April 2020

All motorized vehicles including motorcycles in Indonesia are required to have registration plates. The plates need to be displayed in front and at the back of the vehicles.

Registration plate design

Design convention

Except for some special cases (see below), every vehicle license plate in Indonesia follows the following format: LL NNNN LL where "L" are letters of the Latin alphabet, and "N" numbers from "0" to "9" (note that the first number is never a "0"). The first single or double letters denote the area of registration. This is followed by numbers, which can range from one to four digits. This is then followed by one or two letters although they may be optional. For example: DK 201 SC is a vehicle registered in Bali region, because it begins with DK. A smaller numbers being added to the bottom or the top of the plate (mainly at the bottom), indicates the month and year where the plate will expire, so the owner must repay the tax to get the new one every five years,(for example, "03-19" means "March 2019").

A new format was recently introduced which have three ending letters, due to the increase of motorized vehicle numbers. At first, this format is used for motorcycles since July 2008 until present, for cars in Jakarta, Tangerang, Bekasi and Depok. In the last three letters of this new format, the first letter divides the Jakarta area into sub areas. For example, The first letter of the whole number plate for Jakarta vehicles is "B". For example, "B 1131 RB" indicates it is from Jakarta. But under the new system, the B indicator is not enough. The new system is E.g. "B 1131 SSB". There are now three ending letters. The last two letters are random, but the first letter out of the three dictates the sub areas in Jakarta like: Z is Depok, T is East Jakarta (Jakarta Timur), B is West Jakarta (Jakarta Barat), S is Jakarta Selatan (Southern Jakrta), P is Jakarta Pusat (Central Jakarta), etc. Note that for vehicle plates in Tangerang, Depok, and Bekasi still begins with B from the first letter of the whole plate number which is still representing Jakarta although it is from a different province that Tangerang is in the province of Banten, and Depok and Bekasi is in the province of West Java. It is representing Jakarta, because the three cities are represented as sub areas of Jakarta, because the distance from Jakarta and those three cities are very near.

Registration area codes

This is map where area codes are located to.

The lettering convention to denote area of registration is a legacy of the Dutch colonial era and do not reflect the current regional divisions of the country into provinces. Instead, they follow the old system of Dutch Karesidenan or residencies.

In General, plates that start with K are from Kalimantan Island, D for the group of islands east of Java, such as Bali, Lombok. B is generally used in Sumatra but only alongside another letter - B as a single letter is only for vehicles registered in the Jakarta Metropolitan Area.

The list of area codes are:[1]

Indonesian registration plate area codes

Letter Division Image
A Banten, except Tangerang regency & city, South Tangerang
AA Central Java:
ex Kedu residency: Magelang regency & city, Purworejo, Kebumen, Temanggung, Wonosobo
AB Yogyakarta A Vehicle registration plate from Yogyakarta Special District.png
AD Central Java:
ex Surakarta residency:
Surakarta, Sukoharjo, Boyolali, Sragen, Karanganyar, Wonogiri, Klaten
AE East Java:
ex Madiun residency:
Madiun Regency & City, Ngawi, Magetan, Ponorogo, Pacitan
AG East Java:
ex Kediri residency: Kediri regency & City, Blitar Regency & City, Tulungagung, Nganjuk, Trenggalek
B Jakarta, Tangerang regency & city, South Tangerang, Depok, Bekasi regency & city Id plate.jpg
BA West Sumatra
BB West coast of North Sumatra
BD Bengkulu
BE Lampung
BG South Sumatra
BH Jambi
BK East coast of North Sumatra
BL Aceh
BM Riau
BN Bangka Belitung
BP Riau Islands Bphondahrv.png
D West Java:
ex Bandung residency: Bandung regency & City, Cimahi, West Bandung
DA South Kalimantan
DB North Sulawesi, except Sangihe Islands, Talaud Islands & Sitaro Islands
DC West Sulawesi
DD South Sulawesi:
South region: Makassar, Gowa, Maros, Pangkajene Islands, Takalar, jeneponto, Bulukumba, Bantaeng, Selayar
DE Maluku
DG North Maluku
DH East Nusa Tenggara: Timor
DK Bali License plate from Indonesia.jpg
DL North Sulawesi:
Sangihe Islands, Talaud Islands & Sitaro Islands
DM Gorontalo
DN Central Sulawesi
DP South Sulawesi:
North region: Barru, Parepare, Pinrang, Sidenreng Rappang, Enrekang, Tana Toraja, North Toraja, Luwu, Palopo, North Luwu, East Luwu
DR West Nusa Tenggara: Lombok island
DS Papua
DT Southeast Sulawesi
DW South Sulawesi:
Central Region: Bone, Soppeng, Wajo, Sinjai
E West Java:
ex Cirebon residency: Cirebon regency & city, Indramayu, Majalengka, Kuningan
EA West Nusa Tenggara: Sumbawa island
EB East Nusa Tenggara: Flores island, Alor, Lembata
ED East Nusa Tenggara: Sumba island
F West Java:
ex Bogor residency: Bogor regency & city, Cianjur, Sukabumi regency, city
G Central Java:
ex Pekalongan residency: Pekalongan regency & city, Tegal Regency & city, Brebes, Batang, Pemalang
H Central Java:
ex Semarang residency: Semarang regency & city, Salatiga, Kendal, Demak
K Central Java:
ex Pati residency: Pati, Kudus, Jepara, Rembang, Blora, Grobogan
KB West Kalimantan
KH Central Kalimantan
KT East Kalimantan
KU North Kalimantan
L East Java: Surabaya
M East Java: Madura island
N East Java:
ex Malang residency: Malang regency& city, Probolinggo regency & city, Pasuruan regency & city, Lumajang, Batu
P East Java:
ex Besuki residency: Bondowoso, Situbondo, Jember, Banyuwangi
PB West Papua
R Central Java:
ex Banyumas residency: Banyumas, Cilacap, Purbalingga, Banjarnegara
S East Java:
ex Bojonegoro residency: Bojonegoro, Mojokerto regency & city, Tuban, Lamongan, Jombang
SKB Surabaya: Rickshaws
T West Java:
ex Purwakarta residency: Purwakarta, Karawang, Subang
W East Java: Sidoarjo, Gresik
YB Yogyakarta: Rickshaws
YK Yogyakarta: Dokars
Z West Java:
ex Parahyangan residency: Garut, Tasikmalaya regency & city, Sumedang, Ciamis, Banjar

Vehicle classes

There are several classes of the registration plates, each can be distinguished by their color:

  • White on black: The most common type of license plate, for private vehicles.
  • Red on white: Vehicles that have not been registered yet, or for new cars that have no owners yet or no legal identification.
  • Black on yellow: Public transportation, such as buses, taxis, angkot, auto rickshaws and trucks.
  • White on red: Government vehicles.
  • Black on Red: Vehicles belonging to foreign countries. Commonly used by foreign embassies or vehicles belonging to International organizations. These adopt a different convention (see below).
  • Black on White: Vehicles belonging to foreign countries. Commonly used by foreign embassies or vehicles belonging to International organizations. These adopt a different convention (see below).
  • White on Blue: Belongs to rickshaws in Surabaya. Mainly coded "SB"
  • Black on green: Free Zone vehicles.
  • Blue on white: Vehicles belonging to foreign countries,but this one is mainly used before it has been registered.
  • Military and police vehicles have their own colors and alphanumeric conventions, including their insignia and/or the rank of the officer owning the vehicle, especially for high-ranking officers. Army-personnel vehicles are yellow on green background, plus a yellow star on the top. Navy-personnel plate is yellow on light blue, plus a yellow anchor. Air Force-personnel plate is yellow on dark blue, plus a red and white air force roundel. Police plate is yellow on black. Personnel in Armed Forces Headquarters uses yellow numbers on red background plates. Slightly similar, Ministry of Defense vehicles also uses yellow on red plates, only replacing Armed Forces' insignia with the Ministry's insignia. This is also being practiced on every military vehicles, such as motorcycles, jeeps, trucks, tanks, etc.
  • Fire departments, government ambulances, and other governmental vehicles are administered under their local governments, so they are using White on Red.
  • There are also other special plates or conventions, such as for vehicles used by the President, Vice President or other senior government officials.

Emergency vehicles

For emergency vehicles such as ambulances refer to the vehicle itself, if owned by private medical services or hospital, the plate is white on black, while the plate for ambulance provided by the government is white on red. For fire trucks, the plate is always white on red, because all fire departments are government-owned. Police vehicles have special plates (see above).

Trucks and buses

For trucks, the plate colors may refer, some are officially Black on Yellow, but some which are issued by private condition are having a White on Black plate. For Buses also may refer, if it is a bus used for public transportation such as city buses, etc. uses Black on Yellow plates, but for buses used for private usage, some uses White on Black plates. But mainly, buses uses Black on Yellow plates.

Special plate designs

Government vehicles

Government vehicles have special license plates. If anytime the government officials go to outside the capital or going out from Indonesia, the plates will be placed on the vehicles which is ridden by the government officials.

Senior government officials

Vehicle license plates belonging to senior government officials like the President or Vice President always begin with RI (which stands for "Republik Indonesia") and are followed by a number. For example, the president's vehicle license plate is "RI-1", and the vice president's is "RI-2". Other senior officials such as government ministers, Chairman of The House of Representatives, Commander of The National Armed Forces and Chief of National Police also share the same convention and get the numbers after the President and Vice President. These plates are used for everyday activities, so they are white on black design.

In a special case, there are some very special numbers which are "INDONESIA 1" and "INDONESIA 2" for the President and Vice President, respectively. These numbers are used for a ceremonial purposes, such as presidential/vice presidential inaugurations, national day ceremonies and armed forces day. On the inauguration day, at the time the new president/vice president take the oath, the plates are moved from the former presidential/vice presidential cars to the new car. These numbers also being used for all ceremonial presidential/vice presidential cars, no matters what the type of the vehicles used, and being white on red design.

Vehicles belonging to foreign countries or international organization

License plates for vehicles belonging to foreign countries or international organizations adopt a different convention. They contain black letters on a white background.

The plates have the letter CD followed by two or three digits denoting the country or organization, followed by up to three digits of the serial number. For example, a car with number CD 12 01 is owned by the United States. Generally, the number 01 is reserved for the ambassador's official vehicle.

The numbers are ordered based on when they recognized Indonesia as a country. The United States was originally assigned CD 13; due to the stigma associated with the number 13, they asked the Indian delegation to exchange numbers.

The list of countries and organizations follows:

Code Country or Organization
CD 12  United States
CD 13  India
CD 14  France
CD 15  United Kingdom
CD 16  Philippines
CD 17   Vatican City
CD 18  Australia
CD 19  Norway
CD 20  Iraq
CD 21  Pakistan
CD 22  Belgium
CD 23  Myanmar
CD 24  United Arab Emirates
CD 25  China
CD 26  Sweden
CD 27  Saudi Arabia
CD 28  Thailand
CD 29  Egypt
CD 30  Italy
CD 31   Switzerland
CD 32  Germany
CD 33  Sri Lanka
CD 34  Denmark
CD 35  Canada
CD 36  Brazil
CD 37  Russia
CD 38  Afghanistan
CD 39  Serbia
CD 40  Czech Republic
CD 41  Finland
CD 42  Mexico
CD 43  Hungary
CD 44  Poland
CD 45  Iran
CD 47  Malaysia
CD 48  Turkey
CD 49  Japan
CD 50  Bulgaria
CD 51  Cambodia
CD 52  Argentina
CD 53  Romania
CD 54  Greece
CD 55  Jordan
CD 56  Austria
CD 57  Syria
CD 58 UNDP
CD 59  New Zealand
CD 60  Netherlands
CD 61  Yemen
CD 62 UPU
CD 63  Portugal
CD 64  Algeria
CD 65  North Korea
CD 66  Vietnam
CD 67  Singapore
CD 68  Spain
CD 69  Bangladesh
CD 70  Panama
CD 71 UNICEF
CD 72 UNESCO
CD 73 FAO
CD 74 World Health Organization
CD 75  South Korea
CD 76 Asian Development Bank
CD 77 World Bank
CD 78 International Monetary Fund
CD 79 International Labour Organization
CD 80  Papua New Guinea
CD 81  Nigeria
CD 82  Chile
CD 83 UNHCR
CD 84 WFP
CD 85  Venezuela
CD 86 ESCAP
CD 87  Colombia
CD 88  Brunei Darussalam
CD 89 UNIC
CD 90 International Finance Corporation
CD 91 UNTAET
CD 94  Belarus
CD 96 UNIDO
CD 97 Red Cross
CD 98  Morocco
CD 99  European Union
CD 100 ASEAN Secretary
CD 101  Tunisia
CD 102  Kuwait
CD 103  Laos
CD 105  Cuba
CD 106 AIPO
CD 107  Libya
CD 108  Peru
CD 109  Slovakia
CD 110  Sudan
CD 111 ASEAN Foundation
CD 112 UTUSAN
CD 113 CIFOR
CD 114  Bosnia and Herzegovina
CD 115  Lebanon
CD 116  South Africa
CD 117  Croatia
CD 118  Ukraine
CD 120  Uzbekistan
CD 121  Qatar
CD 122 UNFPA
CD 123  Mozambique
CD 130  Azerbaijan

Consulates also use the same format, but instead of using the letters CD, they use CC.

Vanity names

A few vehicle owners pay an extra or persuade an official to get a certain plate as their pleasure. Because the convention is not flexible to include a full word, people try creative uses of numbers and letters. For example, Idris Sardi, a violin player, uses (B 10 LA) for his vehicle. It is a play on the word BIOLA which means "violin" in Indonesian. Leoni, a famous actress and singer, uses L 30 NI for her car. Even the former President Megawati Sukarnoputri chooses "M 3 GA" for her personal vehicle, as the plate resembles her broadly-known nickname. Edhie Bhaskoro Yudhoyono, President Yudhoyono's younger son, has "B 24 EB", which "EB" is being his name initial. With the new format of three suffix alphabets, many vanity or personal license plates are possible to be created. For example, a Toyota Fortuner owner may choose the plate B 42 NER which sounds B four-two-NER. Even an internet geek can choose "B 900 GLE" as his personal plate. Syahrini, Indonesian singer, has "B 1 SYR", which "SYR" is being her name initial. Alvaro Maldini Siregar of Coboy Junior has "B 14 4LDY" which "14" is his birthday and "4LDY" as it resembles his nickname "Aldi".

References

  1. Republic of Indonesia. Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 22 Tahun 2009 Tentang Lalu Lintas dan Angkutan Jalan.

External links