New Regulations on the Restoration of Lost (Stolen) State License Plates to Come into Effect

The change regarding the allocation and registration of state license plates for vehicles will take effect on October 16. The amendment and addition have been made to the Government's decision No. 1251-N dated September 9, 2010.

According to the amendments, in cases of lost pairs of license plates, and where, pursuant to paragraph 12 of this order, only one license plate has been issued (for light passenger and cargo vehicles, as well as buses assigned with a set of identical numbers and letters for both front and rear), it is possible to issue a duplicate with a corresponding numerical designation (for example, if reissued for the first time, it will be marked with '1'), or license plates containing a different combination of numbers and letters.

Paragraph 22 has been rephrased to stipulate that in the event of the loss of one of the pair of license plates, a duplicate is issued only once without a corresponding numerical designation for reissuance, while for the second or more loss of one of the pairs of license plates, duplicates are issued according to the procedures established in paragraph 21 of this order. In those cases, until the duplicate is issued, a 'Temporary' license plate valid for 7 days will be provided.

Paragraph 21 states that for lost pairs of license plates, or in instances where only one license plate has been issued, a duplicate can be provided following the aforementioned procedures or with a different set of numbers and letters.

A state fee is levied for the issuance of vehicle license plates (including replacing plates, providing new plates in lieu of lost ones, or issuing new plates containing the same combination of letters and numbers for worn or illegible plates) in accordance with the procedures and amounts set by the Law of the Republic of Armenia on 'State Duties' (12,000 AMD), and in the case of allocations of desired or highly demanded registration plates for the first time, an additional fee specified for that plate.

In the event of the discovery of lost plates, they are subject to destruction according to established procedures, except in cases where a duplicate of a highly demanded pair has not been issued instead of the lost plates. Furthermore, paragraph 30 of this order has also been revised. It states that in cases of the discovery of lost plates that are in high demand, they are returned to the vehicle owner if the vehicle has not been removed from the registry; otherwise, if it has been removed, they may be issued to the person who had the right to use those plates prior to the vehicle’s removal or, with their consent, to another vehicle belonging to their close relatives. If new plates have been issued instead of the lost ones, upon the owner’s request, they can be replaced with the discovered plates within three months from the date the owner is informed about the discovery. After this period or if the owner refuses to accept the plates, the discovered plates may be allocated to another person according to established procedures (including being included in the list of available plates).