Motorized vehicles in Indonesia are required to have registration plates, which must be displayed both at the front and back of the vehicles. The issuing of number plates is regulated and administered by (), which is a collaboration between the Indonesian National Police, provincial offices of regional revenue, and the national mandatory vehicle insurance operator Jasa Raharja.
Registration area codes
The lettering convention denoting the area of registration is a legacy of the Dutch colonial era and does not reflect the current regional divisions of the country into provinces. They follow the old system of Dutch Karesidenan or residencies lettering systems, which were adopted in the 1920s, and the Territorial Police system which was abolished in 2010.
The list of area codes are:
Police UnitPrefix DivisionSumatraPolda AcehAcehPolda SumutNorth Sumatra: Western region: Dairi, Pakpak Bharat, Samosir, Toba, Tapanuli (Central, North, South), Humbang Hasundutan, Sibolga, Mandailing Natal, Padangsidempuan, Padang Lawas (Regency, North), Gunungsitoli, Nias (Regency, North, South, West)North Sumatra: Eastern region: Medan, Binjai, Deli Serdang, Serdang Bedagai, Langkat, Karo, Tebing Tinggi, Simalungun, Pematangsiantar, Batubara, Asahan, Tanjungbalai, Labuhanbatu (Regency, North, South)Polda SumbarWest SumatraPolda RiauRiauPolda KepriRiau IslandsPolda JambiJambiPolda BengkuluBengkuluPolda SumselSouth SumatraPolda BabelBangka Belitung IslandsPolda LampungLampungJavaPolda BantenBanten (except Tangerang areas)Polda Metro Jayaex Jakarta residency: Jakarta, Depok, Tangerang areas (City, Regency, South), Bekasi areas (City, Regency)Polda JabarWest Java: ex western Preanger Regencies residency (Bogor Regency, City, Cianjur, Sukabumi Regency, City)West Java: ex Karawang residency (Purwakarta, Karawang, Subang)West Java: ex Cirebon residency (Cirebon Regency, City, Indramayu, Majalengka, Kuningan)West Java: ex central Preanger Regencies residency (Bandung Regency, City, Cimahi, West Bandung)West Java: ex eastern Preanger Regencies residency (Garut, Tasikmalaya Regency, City, Sumedang, Ciamis, Pangandaran, Banjar)Polda JatengCentral Java: ex Banyumas residency (Banyumas, Cilacap, Purbalingga, Banjarnegara)Central Java: ex Pekalongan residency (Pekalongan Regency, City, Tegal Regency, City, Brebes, Batang, Pemalang)Central Java: ex Semarang residency (Semarang Regency, City, Salatiga, Kendal, Demak)Central Java: ex Pati residency (Pati, Kudus, Jepara, Rembang, Blora, Grobogan)Central Java: ex Kedu residency (Magelang Regency, City, Purworejo, Kebumen, Temanggung, Wonosobo)Central Java: ex Surakarta Sunanate (Surakarta, Sukoharjo, Boyolali, Sragen, Karanganyar, Wonogiri, Klaten)Polda DIYYogyakartaPolda JatimEast Java: ex Madiun residency (Madiun Regency, City, Ngawi, Magetan, Ponorogo, Pacitan)East Java: ex Kediri residency (Kediri Regency, City, Blitar Regency, City, Tulungagung, Nganjuk, Trenggalek)East Java: ex Bojonegoro residency (Bojonegoro, Mojokerto Regency, City, Tuban, Lamongan, Jombang)East Java: Sidoarjo, GresikEast Java: SurabayaEast Java: Madura IslandEast Java: ex Malang residency (Malang Regency, City, Probolinggo Regency, City, Pasuruan Regency, City, Lumajang, Batu)East Java: ex Besuki residency (Bondowoso, Situbondo, Jember, Banyuwangi)KalimantanPolda KalbarWest KalimantanPolda KaltengCentral KalimantanPolda KalselSouth KalimantanPolda KaltimEast KalimantanPolda KaltaraNorth KalimantanSulawesiPolda SulutNorth Sulawesi: Islands (Sangihe Islands, Talaud Islands, Sitaro Islands)North Sulawesi: Mainland (Manado, Bitung, Tomohon, Kotamobagu, Minahasa Regency, North, South, Southeast, Bolaang Mongondow Regency, North, South, East)Polda GorontaloGorontaloPolda SultengCentral SulawesiPolda SulbarWest SulawesiPolda SulselSouth Sulawesi: Northern region (Barru, Parepare, Pinrang, Sidenreng Rappang, Enrekang, Tana Toraja, North Toraja, Palopo, Luwu Regency, North, East)South Sulawesi: Central region (Bone, Soppeng, Wajo, Sinjai)South Sulawesi: Southern region (Makassar, Gowa, Maros, Pangkajene Islands, Takalar, Jeneponto, Bulukumba, Bantaeng, Selayar)Polda SultraSoutheast SulawesiNusa TenggaraPolda BaliBaliPolda NTBWest Nusa Tenggara: LombokWest Nusa Tenggara: SumbawaPolda NTTEast Nusa Tenggara: SumbaEast Nusa Tenggara: Flores, Alor, LembataEast Nusa Tenggara: TimorMalukuPolda MalukuMalukuPolda MalutNorth MalukuPapuaPolda PapuaPapuaPolda PabarWest PapuaPolda PapegHighland PapuaPolda PaselSouth PapuaPolda PatengCentral PapuaPolda PBDSouthwest PapuaNon-motorized vehiclesSBEast Java: Surabaya (Trishaws/Rickshaws)YBYogyakarta (Trishaws/Rickshaws)YKYogyakarta (Horse carriage)KSCentral Java: Surakarta (Trishaws/Rickshaws)
Several areas provide license plates for non-motorized transport vehicles. In Yogyakarta, is used for rickshaws. A white-on-blue license plate with area code is issued for rickshaws operating in the city of Surabaya. In Banjarmasin, rickshaws operating in the city are issued with plate using a unique format, .
Defunct area codes
There were some area codes that are no longer in use. These include: – ex Borneo Residency, Western region – East Timor – Papua, prior to 2016.
History
Colonial era
Vehicle registration plates were first introduced in the Dutch East Indies in 1900. The early format included regional codes such as for Cirebon, for Surabaya, and 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 for government vehicles. 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:
: Banten : Batavia (now Greater Jakarta) : Preanger Regencies (now Greater Bandung) : Cirebon : Pekalongan : Semarang : Rembang : Surabaya : Madura : Pasuruan, Malang : Besuki : Banyumas : Kedu : Special Region of Yogyakarta : Surakarta (Sragen Regency, Klaten Regency, Karanganyar Regency, Boyolali Regency) : Madiun (Ngawi Regency, Ponorogo Regency, Magetan Regency, Pacitan Regency) : Kediri (Tulungagung Regency, Blitar, Trenggalek Regency, Nganjuk Regency) : Western coast of Sumatra : Tapanuli : Bengkulu : Lampung : Palembang : Jambi : East Sumatra (now Greater Medan) : Aceh : Riau : Bangka : Riau Islands : West Kalimantan : South Kalimantan and East Kalimantan : Manado : Sulawesi : Ambon : Ternate : Timor : Bali and Lombok
Until the 1920s, regional codes were added along with the Karesidenan regional expansion. For example, Bogor used the code , Bojonegoro used the code , and Western Papua used the code .
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. ) 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 (four wheel vehicles or more) or (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 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 -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 , while for four-or-more-wheeled vehicles was .
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 , 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: 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: 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: denoting the month and year of the plate's expiry (e.g. 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: