More choices in personalised number plates by year-end

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The Transport Department will launch the Personalised Vehicle Registration Mark (PVRM) scheme, which was announced by the Financial Secretary in the 2004-05 Budget, before the end of the year.

The scheme will provide vehicle owners with more choices in selecting their preferred vehicle registration number, in addition to raising revenue for the Government.

Speaking at a press conference today (March 11), the Commissioner for Transport, Mr Robert Footman, said, "The Transport Department is developing details for the PVRM scheme."

Mr Footman explained the following features of the PVRM scheme:

* Combination - A PVRM can be any combination of letters and numbers up to a maximum of eight characters provided that it does not duplicate the existing vehicle registration numbers. Any spaces will count as one of the eight permitted characters.

* Application - Applicants will be required to indicate the display of the PVRM combination on an illustrative number plate in the application form. They will also be required to pay a deposit.

* Allocation - PVRM applications will be subject to vetting to ensure that any offensive or otherwise inappropriate ones can be screened out. Approved PVRMs will be publicised in local newspapers and allocated through sale by auction. The number will be allocated for a fixed period.

* Price - the deposit/opening price for PVRM is being considered and will be announced before implementation of the scheme.

"The Administration will introduce the necessary legislative amendments into the Legislative Council in due course.

"Further details of the scheme as well as the application procedures will be announced before its implementation," Mr Footman noted.

At present, vehicle owners are allocated a vehicle registration number upon registration of a vehicle or they can get a number of their own preference through auction.

The existing numbers are of fixed patterns with not more than six characters, which are either all numbers without a prefix or with one or two letters as a prefix, followed by not more than four numbers.

Ends/Thursday, March 11, 2004

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