New License Plates in Hungary from July

New format license plates will be introduced in Hungary from July 1, with the reason for the change being that the current character set would have run out in a few years at most, the Ministry of Technology and Industry (TIM) said.

Its announcement explained that the new type of license plates will consist of two vowels or two consonants in the Latin alphabet – except for the letter combinations cs, gy, ly, ny, s, ty, zs (which are double letters in the Hungarian language) – followed by two more letters and three digits.

No accented vowels may be used in place of the letters of the number plate, and the digits may be 001 to 999.

A new element on the number plates is the coat of arms of Hungary, next to the blue field representing the European flag, with twelve yellow stars and the white letter H.

In the future, special letter combinations will include TX for taxis, HA for the Hungarian Defense Forces, RA for police, MA for the National Ambulance Service, NA for the National Tax and Customs Administration and BA for prison service vehicles.

The new number plates will be introduced in ascending order and will be issued to vehicles newly registered in Hungary from July 1. The official plates already in use – in the format of three letters and three numbers – do not need to be replaced by new plates, they can continue to be used, and can be renumbered on request, but this is not compulsory, the Ministry said.

Environmentally friendly vehicles will continue to be able to display a light green number plate, that of taxis will remain yellow, and a grey number plate will be available for bicycle transporters.