Lifestyle Desk: The basis or soul of the Bengali language is the Bengali alphabet. The words we make to speak are based on this alphabet. Again, different types of symbolic meanings are understood with this alphabet. For example, the letters on the number plate of the car indicate the classification of different types of cars.

the car

If you own a car, it is sure to have number plates on the front and back. And if there is no car, then you must have seen the numbers with letters on the number plates of all the cars you see every day.

The number plates of each car look very similar but their numbers are different. For example - Dhaka Metro A 11-1234, Dhaka Metro B 31-2345 etc. Here- Dhaka Metro means the vehicle that is under the jurisdiction of Dhaka Metropolitan can be easily guessed. Next '11' is the vehicle's registration number and '1234' is the vehicle's serial number.

But a Bengali letter is added between the name of the city and the number on the number plate of the car. Have you ever wondered what exactly this letter means?

Many may know the meaning of Bengali letters on car number plates. There is no harm in not knowing. Let's find out what the number plate of the car reveals through this letter.

Before knowing what the letters mean, you need to know who and how to fix car number plates in Bangladesh. When you buy a car, the car needs to be registered. And vehicle registration has to be done from Bangladesh Roads and Transport Authority or BRTA.

When applying for registration of a vehicle with BRTA, the vehicle details are to be submitted in their form. After providing the vehicle information, BRTA determines the category of your vehicle and assigns a vehicle number.

Number plate writing format: BRTA has a specific format for assigning vehicle numbers by category. The format is-

City Name - Vehicle Category - Vehicle Number.

In the middle part of this format, Bengali letters are used to indicate the category of the vehicle. Now the question may come to mind, then what category is meant by which letter?

When BRTA approves a vehicle, the vehicle is placed in a category based on the type of vehicle. A car is assigned a color depending on which category it falls into. There are total 19 categories as per BRTA rules for issue of number plates. One of these categories is Prime Minister's office vehicles, while the remaining 18 categories are for public vehicles.

So let's know about the 19 categories-

A –
Private car, 800 cc private car number plate uses the first letter of Bengali Banjan alphabet.

B –
Private car, 1000-1300 cc private car is written 'B' on the number plate.

C –
Private car, 1500-1800 cc private cars, if you look at the number plate, you will see the letter 'C' is given.

D –
Jeep, the letter 'D' is used to designate the category of Jeep.

Ch –
Microbus, the 5th letter of Bengali alphabet 'Ch' is used on the number plate of Microbus.

G –
Microbuses that are operated on rent, have 'G' on their number plates. This character is also assigned to Laguna.

J –
The letter 'J' is used on the number plate to indicate the category of minibus.

Jh –
The letter 'Jh' is used to indicate the category of large bus or coaster bus.

T –
If the letter 'T' is written on the number plate of a car, then it must be understood that it is the number plate of a big truck.

த –
If there is 'த' in the number plate, it should be understood that the number plate is the number plate of a double cabin pick-up.

Dr –
If you look at the number plate of the medium truck, you will see that the letter 'D' is used there.

N –
If a vehicle belongs to the small pick-up category, then the category is specified by using the letter 'N' on the number plate.

P –
Category prescribed for taxi cabs. Usually the taxi cab number plate has the letter 'P'.

V –
2000+ cc private car is indicated by the letter 'V' after the name of the city on the vehicle number plate.

M –
The letter 'M' of the Bengali alphabet is used to denote pick-up used for transportation and delivery of goods.

D –
The letter 'D' is used on the number plate of private CNG vehicles that run for private or personal transport.

Th –
The letter 'Th' is used for CNG on hire.

H –
If it is a 80-125 cc motorbike, it is marked with the letter 'H' on the number plate of that bike.

Law –
If any motorbike is 135-200 cc then the number plate of that bike is marked with 'Law'.

E –
The category is fixed by the letter 'E' while approving the number plate of the type of vehicle.

Y-
'Y' is used on the number plate to identify the Prime Minister's office vehicles.

Now, if you know what type of car is represented by which letter, just by looking at the number plate you can get an idea about the registration, city, engine type of the car. Many times vehicle numbers are also used to trace vehicles.

But the easiest and most accurate way to trace a car is to use a vehicle tracking service. Vehicle tracking service can be easily tracked and traced from the comfort of your home or office 24 hours a day. So that the car is safe, the passengers are safe.