Vehicle registration plates of Indonesia

History

Colonial era

Vehicle registration plates were first introduced in the Dutch East Indies in 1900. The early format included regional codes such as CH for Cirebon, SB for Surabaya, and SOK for the eastern coast of Sumatra; and registration numbers with no official standards. Plates were not always installed at the front and the rear of the vehicle; some owners affixed the plates on the side of the vehicle. For international purposes, the Government of the Dutch East Indies introduced the code IN for government vehicles. IN plates were elliptical and the registration numbers were placed below on a rectangular plate.

A more-structured system was introduced in 1917 with the implementation of regulations regarding the content of applications for number and driving licenses, the specification of numbers and letters, the models of number and driving licenses, the establishment of registers of holders of the licenses and the publication of the contents of the registers. The regulation obliged vehicle owners to register their vehicles. The Karesidenan-based system was first implemented on Java and afterwards elsewhere in the colony. The alphabetical codes were:

• A: Banten
• B: Batavia (now Greater Jakarta)
• D: Preanger Regencies (now Greater Bandung)
• E: Cirebon
• G: Pekalongan
• H: Semarang
• K: Rembang
• L: Surabaya
• M: Madura
• N: Pasuruan, Malang
• P: Besuki
• R: Banyumas
• AA: Kedu
• AB: Special Region of Yogyakarta
• AD: Surakarta (Sragen Regency, Klaten Regency, Karanganyar Regency, Boyolali Regency)
• AE: Madiun (Ngawi Regency, Ponorogo Regency, Magetan Regency, Pacitan Regency)
• AG: Kediri (Tulungagung Regency, Blitar, Trenggalek Regency, Nganjuk Regency)
• BA: Western coast of Sumatra
• BB: Tapanuli
• BD: Bengkulu
• BE: Lampung
• BG: Palembang
• BH: Jambi
• BK: East Sumatra (now Greater Medan)
• BL: Aceh
• BM: Riau
• BN: Bangka
• BP: Riau Islands
• BR: West Kalimantan
• DA: South Kalimantan and East Kalimantan
• DB: Manado
• DD: Sulawesi
• DE: Ambon
• DG: Ternate
• DH: Timor
• DK: Bali and Lombok

Until the 1920s, regional codes were added along with the Karesidenan regional expansion. For example, Bogor used the code F, Bojonegoro used the code S, and Western Papua used the code DS.

Post-colonial era

1980s

The early format of registration plates remained in use after Indonesia proclaimed its independence in 1945. At the beginning of the 1980s, plates with four-digit numbers separated by a dot at the bottom that denote the month and year of expiry (e.g. 06•87) was introduced. Vehicle owners must pay a tax to renew the plate every five years. The typefaces are embossed. There were two variations of design during the New Order; the expiry date would be placed above or below the registration numbers.

21st century

Along with the increase of motorized vehicles in Indonesia, the technical design and specification of vehicle registration plates began to be regulated by the Direktorat Lalu Lintas Kepolisian Negara Republik Indonesia/Ditlantas Polri (Traffic Directorate) of the Indonesian National Police. The size of the license plates during the 2000s was 395 mm × 135 mm (15.6 in × 5.3 in) (four wheel vehicles or more) or 250 mm × 105 mm (9.8 in × 4.1 in) (two or three wheel vehicles) with wide alphabets and a stripe that separates the registration numbers and expiry date. In the lower left and upper right corners is the Traffic Police symbol, and at the lower-right and upper-left corners is a "DIRLANTAS POLRI" sign as a security feature and proof of the originality of the license plate.

In April 2011, the design of the license plate was redesigned. The new plates are 5 cm (2.0 in) longer to accommodate more characters and the typeface is slimmer. The Traffic Corps of the Indonesian National Police (Korps Lalu Lintas Kepolisian Negara Republik Indonesia, abbreviated as Korlantas Polri) introduced their more-complete coat of arms, with shield and ribbon with the letter "Dharmakerta Marga Raksyaka". The abbreviation "DITLANTAS" became "KORLANTAS". The license plates are made from 1 mm (0.039 in)-thick aluminium with edge lines with the same color as the numbers. The size of the plate for two-or-three-wheeled vehicles now is 275 mm × 115 mm (10.8 in × 4.5 in), while for four-or-more-wheeled vehicles was 430 mm × 135 mm (16.9 in × 5.3 in).

In June 2022, the Traffic Corps changed the color scheme for personal and rental vehicles from black plates with white letters to white plates with black letters. The new color scheme was implemented to ease the detection of motoring offenses with traffic enforcement cameras. To increase the effectivity of the new color scheme, FE-Schrift typeface was first implemented for regular personal four-wheel plates only since November 2022. Besides that, commercial/public transport (black on yellow) and government-owned (white on red) vehicle plates began to use FE-Schrift at the same time. Currently, the size of the plate for four-or-more-wheeled vehicles is 460 mm × 135 mm (18.1 in × 5.3 in), with the width upsized from 430 mm to 460 mm to accommodate the new wider FE-Schrift typeface and the suffix extension to three letters, while the size of the plate for two-or-three-wheeled vehicles has not changed.

Registration plate design convention

Size and formatting

Indonesian vehicle registration plates for four-wheel vehicles are approximately 460 mm × 135 mm and plates for two-or-three-wheel vehicles are approximately 275 mm × 115 mm. All plates are constructed from stamped sheet metal. With some exceptions, plates use the following format: LL NNNN LL where "L" are letters of the Latin alphabet, and "N" numbers from "0" to "9" (the first number is never a "0"). The first single-or-double-letter prefixes denote the area of registration. This is followed by number between 1 and 9999 without leading zeroes. This is then followed by one or two letters although they may be optional. For example: B 1945 PKL is a vehicle registered in Central Jakarta city; it begins with B. A smaller, four-digit number separated by dot is located at the top (old format, with horizontal line as divider) or bottom (newer format, commonly without divider) of the plate with following format: NN•NN denoting the month and year of the plate's expiry (e.g. 01•28 means until January 2028). The owner must pay a tax to renew it every five years.

Color scheme

Regular vehicles (Conventional and Hybrid)

Vehicles in Indonesia are coded based on their classes and uses, which four or more wheelers were used FE-Schrift since November 2022. These are:

Electric vehicles (EV)

The Indonesian National Police has set a special license plate for electric vehicles with additional blue trim at the expiry date row in accordance with the regulations in the Decree of the Head of the Traffic Corps of the Indonesian National Police in 2020. four or more wheelers are used FE-Schrift since November 2022.

Temporary registration plates

Temporary registration plates currently have two formats, namely:

• Red on white: Vehicles that have not been registered yet, or for new cars that have no owners yet or no legal identification. This format is widely used nationally for all vehicle types.
• Black on white with special suffix: This format is exclusively used within the Greater Jakarta Metropolitan Regional Police jurisdiction (which uses the registration code B) and commonly used for new car owners that haven't got the permanent registration yet. It looks similar with the permanent personal vehicle plates, but added with the SS suffix, which is an abbreviation of Sifat Sementara (temporary use). In January 2024, newer suffixes were introduced, such as LK, AK, PC, PD, AZ and BC. Temporary plates with this format are only valid for 30 days. For example: B 2814 SSP, B 2309 LKV, and B 1491 PDQ. Other regions such as Bandung and Surabaya has their own temporary plate suffixes. For example D 1686 QGK registered in Bandung, and L 1107 PRN registered in Surabaya.

Former color scheme

Special code examples

Vehicle category (Jakarta only)

In Jakarta, these codes are applied based on vehicle categories. These include:

• B – Code for Double Cabin Pickups
• A/B/D/W/E/R – Code for sedans
• A/C/U/Z – Code for pickups
• D – Code for trucks
• F/K/O/Z/R/Y/I – Code for minibuses
• *HX/*IX – Code for ambulances
• J/L/C – Code for SUVs
• Q/U – Code for government staff
• T/U – Code for taxis
• V/P/M/G/Y/W/U – Code for Minibuses

For example, B 9031 BAY indicates that the vehicle is a pickup, while B 1032 DFA indicates that the vehicle is a minibus.

State officials

A separate format exists for private vehicles belonging to government, military or police officials. Because most of these agencies are based in Jakarta, vehicles belonging to state officials use the B suffix, along with the four numbers that are assigned to the vehicle. The sub-area suffix is replaced with RF suffix code, indicating the vehicle belongs to a state official, followed by another letter that indicates the corresponding agency or institution of the state official.

• RFS - Vehicle registration code intended for civil officials.
  • RFO, RFH, and RFQ suffixes are intended for civil officials under the Echelon 2 rank role.
• RFT - Vehicle registration code intended for Indonesian National Armed Forces
• RFD - Vehicle registration code intended for Indonesian Army officials.
• RFL - Vehicle registration code intended for Indonesian Navy officials.
• RFU - Vehicle registration code intended for Indonesian Air Force officials.
• RFP - Vehicle registration code intended for Indonesian National Police officials.

For example, B 1703 RFS indicates that the vehicle belongs to a civilian official, whilst B 1148 RFP indicates that the vehicle belongs to a police official.

On 27 January 2023, the Traffic Corps of the Indonesian National Police announced that special RF plates would be discontinued in October 2023, due to often being misused by numbers of people. By July 2023, the special RF plates has been replaced by ZZ plates (not to be confused with the vehicle registration number for Depok city, which has a format B **** Z**).

The application of the ZZ* plates first introduced in Riau Islands province in May 2023.

Special plate designs

Military and police vehicles

Military and police vehicles have their own colors and alpha-numeric 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 implemented on other military vehicles, such as motorcycles, jeeps, trucks, and tanks.

Military and Ministry of Defense vehicles use the numerical convention NNNNN-SS where "N" is for numbers from "0" to "9" for registration and "S" denotes a special suffix number/letter which denotes the type of office or unit in which the person who owns the vehicle belongs to.

The suffix codes are:

Government officials

Executive branch

Vehicle registration plates belonging to senior government officials like the president or vice president always begins with RI which stands for Republik Indonesia and are followed by a number. For example, the president's registration plate is RI-1, and the vice president's is RI-2. Other senior officials such as government ministers, the chairman of the House of Representatives, the commander of the National Armed Forces and the chief of the National Police also share the same convention and are assigned the numbers after the President and vice president. These plates are used for everyday activities and have a black on white design.

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 ceremonial purposes, such as presidential/vice-presidential inaugurations, national day ceremonies and armed forces day. On inauguration day, at the time the new president and vice president take the oath, the plates are moved from the former presidential/vice-presidential cars to the new car. These numbers are also used for all ceremonial presidential/vice-presidential cars, and have a white-on-red design.

Public Prosecution Service

The Public Prosecution Service of Indonesia (Indonesian: Kejaksaan Republik Indonesia) uses a special vehicle registration plate format for its official fleet, regulated through a regulation issued by the Attorney General. The plate consists of three primary elements: the emblem positioned on the left, a registration number sequence, and a two-character regional code placed at the end. The regional code, which indicates the vehicle’s registration area, may be written in either Arabic or Roman numerals. The plates use a distinctive color scheme: the section behind the emblem is dark green, the area containing the registration number is dark brown, and the main background is golden yellow.

Legislative branch

In May 2021, the Indonesian House of Representatives (Indonesian: Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat) introduced their owned special registration plates, in order to supervise their member's driving behavior. The plate design is similar to the Ministry of Defence's plate, but painted in black and white combination with the seal of the House of Representatives. The codes are:

For members of the parliament, the format is xx-yy where xx is the member number and yy is the faction number.

Foreign countries and international organizations

Registration plates for vehicles belonging to the government of foreign countries or international organizations follow a different convention. They used to have black letters on a white background with black trim on the bottom. In June 2022, the black trim was scrapped, so the plates would look similar to regular personal vehicle plates.

The plates have the letter CD (abbreviation of Corps Diplomatique, French for Diplomatic Corps) 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 66 88 is owned by Vietnam. Generally, the number 01 is reserved for an ambassador's official vehicle.

The order of numbers is 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:

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

Some foreign countries and international-organization vehicles in Jakarta use the B xxxxx ^yyy format and a normal white on black plate. Where xxxxx stands for five random digits, and ^yyy stands for the country or organization code.

Vanity plates

A few vehicle owners pay an extra amount of money to get a certain plate as their desire. An option for customized registration plate is available, with these plates being officially called as "Beautiful Number Plates" (Indonesian: Plat Nomor Cantik). Prices vary depending on how many numerical digits a plate will have and if there are letters after the number. These "vanity" plates are no different from regular plates in terms of format, and are simply regular plates sold at a higher value.

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 Soekarnoputri chooses "M 3 GA" for her personal vehicle, as the plate resembles her broadly known nickname. Edhie Bhaskoro Yudhoyono, former 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 registration plates are possible to be created. For example, a Toyota Fortuner owner may choose the plate B 42 NER which sounds like B four-two-NER. Syahrini, an Indonesian singer, has "B 1 SYR" as her registration plate number, with "SYR" being her initials.