Electronic motor vehicle license from November 1, 2020. How to receive it?
From November 1, 2020, Russia stopped issuing a paper vehicle passport (DVP) for new cars. All vehicles that are imported into the country or produced in the Russian Federation will receive electronic PTS. Already issued paper passports continue to be valid. We tell you who will be affected by the innovation, what is the electronic vehicle registration certificate and how to obtain it.
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Table of contents
What is an electronic vehicle license plate
Electronic vehicle registration document is a substitute for the paper passport, in fact, it is a record in a database. It will contain car history, service history, insurance information and even an accident record. At the same time, the owner still has the sale contract and the STS plastic card.
The electronic DVT will contain the following data:
- Car weight, engine power and other technical characteristics;
- VIN-number;
- mileage;
- Information on passing the vehicle inspection;
- restrictions when buying or selling, which are introduced by banks.
It is also planned to include in the new document information on accidents and resales of cars.
Unlike the paper documents the electronic documents can not be lost, stolen or faked. With a change of ownership it is not necessary to register the changes in the vehicle documents with the State Traffic Police, this excludes the situation when the previous owner receives fines and taxes for the new one. These advantages of the new document are indicated on the website of the Electronic Passport System.
Electronic vehicle registration certificate for a new car
EVTS will be made out by manufacturers of new cars and importers of foreign cars at import. The Federal Customs Service (FCS) will no longer issue these documents and must destroy the remaining forms. This is stated in the Russian government decree №166 from 31.10.2019.
This means that electronic TDSs are now issued for all new and imported cars in the country. All old paper PTS continue to be valid, the owners of used cars do not need to change the passport.
How to view the electronic PTS
The owner of the car. Only the owner of the car can view the full electronic PTS. To do this you must register in the Electronic Passport System:
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and click there “Registration”.
- Register with a Gosuslugi account or with e-signature. If neither, select “Anonymous registration”.
- Enter your email and come up with a password. Click “Register”.
- Confirm the registration with the link that comes in the mail.
- Return to the system site and click “Login”. Authorize through State Services, with an electronic signature, or by mail and password.
After that, the owner can get a complete extract from the EPTS in the “My e-Passports” section.
Not to the owner. Not only the owner, but also any other user may request the status of e-PTS. To do this, enter the number of the vehicle registration certificate or the VIN number on a special page.
Also, any citizen can get a shortened extract from the EPTI. This service is available after registration, as of November 2020 such an extract costs 250 rubles.
How to get an electronic vehicle registration certificate
At the dealer. Importers and manufacturers issue the EPTS on their own. You buy a new car – the dealer gives you a sales contract, in which the number of EPTS is written. The dealer also sends an extract from the VIN to your e-mail address.
With the agreement from the dealer you can get a MTPL policy. The insurance company will receive the data directly from the electronic passport.
To register the car at the traffic police you will only have to show the contract and the policy, no need for a paper vehicle registration certificate. The driver will get a plastic STS card and license plate number, as before.
When importing from abroad. When importing a car, the procedure is more complicated: now you have to go to the testing laboratory, which will issue a vehicle registration certificate and a certificate of safe vehicle construction (SDCTS). The list of such organizations is available on the site of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.
After that you may pay customs duties and register the car at the traffic police.
How to change the owner on EPTS
To change the owner on the EPTS when selling a car, the old owner makes a record that he transfers the car to another person. This service is available for registered users of the Electronic Passport System and costs 120 roubles as of November 2020.
After this, the buyer also accesses the EPTS via the system and confirms the transaction. From this moment the car will be registered to the new owner, he will receive fines and taxes.
Will the old TTS be valid?
All former paper motor vehicle documents are not required to be replaced. They are still valid. You may use them along with e-Passports.
How to replace old driving licenses with new ones
It happens that the space for entries in the paper traffic certificate runs out or the car owner loses it. In this case, you need to apply to the traffic police for a duplicate. The State Automobile Inspection may issue a new paper form only if the inspectors still have them. The new copies are not printed any more.
In order to get a new electronic traffic license plate instead of the old one, one should address to the operator or to the laboratory, which issue the electronic vehicle inspection, their complete list is on the site of Ministry of Industry and Trade.
What is an electronic vehicle license plate
In Russia, for every car registered with the traffic police, a vehicle passport, or DVT, is issued.
Previously, it was only possible to issue it in paper form. But now the situation has changed: at the time of writing almost four million cars in Russia have an electronic vehicle passport (EVTS).
EPTS has both advantages and disadvantages. We will tell you whether it is necessary to have an electronic passport, and how to properly sell and buy a car with an EPTS.
A course on the big issues
Why do you need the passport of a vehicle?
According to the law, the vehicle passport is one of the main documents that identify the vehicle. You can confuse two cars of the same make, color and year of manufacture, but the PTS will have all the signs that allow you to distinguish one car from the other.
The functions of the PTS are similar to the passport of the citizen of Russia. But if a citizen’s passport contains data about the car, the vehicle’s technical characteristics, numbers of main aggregates, all owners, as well as the registration and deregistration in the State Traffic Police are included in the vehicle certificate.
You can also enter additional information about the vehicle, for example, if the car was equipped with gas equipment, if recycling fee was paid for it, and many other things.
But what kind of PTS the car has does not affect anything: it is certified and confirmed by the state information about the unique characteristics of a particular vehicle.
Also, the TDS without the sales contract still does not confirm the right of ownership of the car. It arises at the time of signing the sales contract. After registration in the traffic police the owner of a car receives a certificate of vehicle registration (STS) – it is still a paper document.
What is an electronic vehicle license plate
Prior to 2015, the DVT was exclusively paper, and was issued only in the traffic police. The order of issuance and replacement was regulated by the Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation from 23.04.2019 № 267 “On approval of forms of documents identifying the vehicle, and requirements for them”.
This document is still in force, but only in relation to paper documents. They can still be obtained, replaced and amended. The State Traffic Police has the right to issue paper documents until their forms are out. But since 2025 there won’t be a possibility to get a paper VTS.
The idea to replace paper motor licensing plates with electronic ones appeared in 2015. And the task was not only to make life easier for car owners. It was important that a single order for electronic passports should work in the entire territory of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) – in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
It was expected that electronic ID cards for all new cars would be issued in 2017, but the deadlines were postponed several times. All delays ended on November 2, 2020: it is obligatory to obtain an electronic car license plate for all cars manufactured after November 2, 2020, while it is impossible to obtain a paper one. For cars made before that date, it is still possible to obtain a paper passport from the traffic police.
In Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan the term of compulsory use of EDVTCS was extended until December 31, 2021 – until this date it is still possible to use paper IDS according to the rules and forms, set in these states.
According to the idea, all the vehicles, produced in these countries or imported from outside the EEU, since the new rules came into force, should have economic motor vehicle registration. And this should be done by the same rules. At the same time, each state may independently determine the operator – the organization responsible for issuing EPTS. In Russia, this is JSC “Electronic Passport”.
Decision of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission of 18.09.2014 № 59 PDF, 197 KB
Where and how you can complete EPTS
It is not possible to make changes to an existing EPTS or obtain a new one from the traffic police. The state does not provide services for executing an EPTS. It is impossible to apply for the document via the general services website, to apply for it, or to get a discount for its issuance: the service shall cost 600 R in any case.
And even the operator of e-passports doesn’t issue EPTS. JSC “E-Passport” simply provides maintenance of the register, which is available to organizations and individuals. But everyone who receives such access has clearly delineated powers.
The A4 form of the motor vehicle certificate of registration appeared in 1993, and since then, the amount of information that was entered into it has been constantly increasing. VIN, information about paying the recycling fee, information about installing additional equipment, such as a gas tank, change of ownership, and many other things were entered on the paper form. And when the space on the blank ran out, it was transferred to the new one. But the amount of information about the vehicle, which should be taken into account, is constantly growing, and the space on the form is not infinite.
Another problem with the paper form is that it can be amended only in the State Traffic Police. And you need to certify them with a seal and signature of the responsible employee. The car owner has to visit the Traffic Police Department for this purpose. The electronic appointment solves many problems. But in many cities the appointment time is planned for a month ahead.
That’s why it was decided to refuse using the paper form, and, generally, the Registration Certificate as a public service.
The electronic passports may be issued by the vehicle manufacturer for vehicles manufactured by this organization. The authorized body or an organization may do it.
The manufacturer can execute EPTS for the vehicles it manufactures from the date of application of e-Passports. The manufacturer cannot issue EPTS for an older vehicle. It works like this: you can buy a new 2021 Lada in a car showroom, the EPTS for which was issued by the car manufacturer. But it is useless to ask the plant to issue an EPTS for a 2013 model year car.
But such an electronic passport can be issued by an authorized organization. The Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia approves the list and publishes it on its website.
The list of authorized bodies (organizations) and manufacturing organizations processing EPTSPDF, 414 KB.
In general the process of obtaining the electric motor vehicle license plate depends on how and from whom the car was purchased and whether the car was previously registered with a paper motor vehicle license plate.
If you buy a new Russian car in a car dealership, the car manufacturer has already issued EPTS for it. The car has never had a paper VIN. The data on the new owner will be entered into the LPTS by the dealer or an authorized organization.
However, no printouts of the electronic vehicle registration document will be required: the traffic police will themselves verify the correspondence of all the data. The car owner will not have to pay the state duty.
If the car is imported from the EAEU member-country, you will not be able to provide a paper passport, too. You will have to apply to one of the authorized organizations for issuing the EPTS. This service can be ordered by a private person who imports a car for personal use, as well as by an organization-importer. It costs 600 R.
If the car owner has lost the paper vehicle registration document or decided to change it for the electronic one, he will also have to go to an authorized entity. The service costs 600 R. In this case, you do not have to pay the state duty of 800 R for the replacement of paper vehicle documents in the traffic police.
Even if you still have the original vehicle registration certificate, you will not be able to use it to register your car at the State Traffic Police. When you fill out the electronic passport, the paper one will be given the “cancelled” status, and the traffic police will be able to see this information.
Who May Make Changes to the EPTS
The owner can independently make changes and additions into the previously issued ESV: for instance, if a car is sold, he can add the data of the new owner. Instead of a handwritten signature, the old and new owners will confirm the changes with an SMS password.
But the owners cannot change the technical characteristics of the car, for example, to reduce its power in order to save on transport tax: the system does not provide for such an opportunity.
The testing laboratories can make changes: if the owner has installed HBO on the car or made other changes in the design – for example, replaced the body with another one not provided by the manufacturer. But these labs can’t change the owner’s information.
The banks also have access to the EPTS: they can enter the information about the pledge of the credit car, as well as about the termination of the pledge.
Here are the other organizations that can connect to the EPTS system:
- Representatives of foreign automakers.
- Official dealers.
- Leasing companies.
- Legal entities and sole proprietors of vehicles.
- Bodies that certify vehicles.
- Testing laboratories and State technical control bodies.
Each user will have their own, limited authority. The amount of information that can be entered into the EPTS is limited only by the database capacity. If the need arises to take into account any new information, the new fields may be defined in the database for them.
Is it compulsory to change paper vehicle documents to electronic ones?
If you have a paper passport for your car, you may continue to use it without restrictions. The law does not limit validity period of paper traffic documents: in 2025 they will be discontinued, but the old ones will be valid until the owner decides to replace them or get rid of the car.
In case of loss of a paper motor license plate the car owner can still get a duplicate of the paper passport from the State Traffic Police Inspectorate. At the same time, the car owner can voluntarily replace the paper passport with an electronic one. That’s when it makes sense.
The paper PTS is in hand, but there is a mark “Duplicate” in it. If the special marks says “Duplicate issued to replace the PTS so-and-so” – no big deal. But the mark “so-and-so license plate was issued instead of the lost one” is a real problem: the car with such license plate is harder to be sold, the buyers treat them with distrust. Thus, if you have such record in passport and the car is not in pledge, you can easily buy the old one: it won’t have any marks.
Paper VIN is lost. The price of EPTS will be 600 R: it is 40 R more expensive than getting a paper copy of DVTS from the State Traffic Police. But the electronic passport will never be lost. Still works the advantage, which we mentioned above: in EPTS will not write that it was issued to replace the lost one, and there will be no problems with selling the car.
The car, which is mortgaged, shall be no problem to issue the LPD and immediately mark it as collateral. But the paper vehicle registration certificate, issued by the RF State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, does not have this info: the officers of the RF State Traffic Safety Inspectorate are not obliged to check the car for availability of pledges. However, the fact that vehicle registration is in the possession of the bank can not be a reason to refuse state registration.
The car owner changes his or her surname: for example, due to marriage.
The owner of the car often loses the documents. In principle, it is impossible to lose an electronic vehicle registration certificate.
How is an electronic vehicle license plate better than a paper one?
Compared to the paper passport, the electronic one has a number of advantages.
Unlimited number of records of new owners. While you can make only six entries in a paper vehicle license plate, and then you have to go to traffic police, pay the fee and get a new one, with the mark “Duplicate”.
It is not yet possible to forge an EPTS. The hijackers have long ago mastered the scheme, when the numbers of the main units of a stolen car are rewritten, the form of the motor vehicle certificate is printed on a color printer and the data of another real-life car is entered into it.
If the traffic policemen do not find out the falsification, there will be two cars with identical PTS on the roads. But even if they discover it, by that moment the hijackers will have already had time to get money from the buyer and disappear, and the buyer will be left without both the car and the money.
In case of an EPTS, you cannot create two electronic passports with the same data.
There is much more useful information in the EPTS than in an ordinary DVP. But it is more of a plus for a buyer of the car in the secondary market and for a bona fide seller. It is more difficult for resellers.
What information is stated on the LPTS
The Vehicle/TVE is issued for motor vehicles, chassis and self-propelled cars. The volume of information is different.
All information from the paper vehicle registration certificate is printed on a half A4 sheet. Here is what you can find on the ECTC:
- EPTS number.
- Status of the vehicle: e.g. “Incomplete”, “Valid”, “Cancelled”, “Disused”.
- Category of the vehicle according to the technical regulations of the Customs Union.
- Addresses of the manufacturer, its representative and the plant where the vehicle was assembled.
- Location of the manufacturer’s plate, VIN, as well as the structure and content of the VIN – in accordance with section 3 of GOST R 51980-2002.
- Location of the engine number, its structure and content – in accordance with Section 4 of GOST R 53602-2009.
- Number of seats in front and rear, number of seats, passenger capacity, total volume of luggage compartments.
- Description of hybrid power unit, if the car has one.
- Information about the electric motor, if any: make, type, operating voltage, maximum thirty-minute power, energy storage device, its location and range.
- Size of tires, their load capacity index and speed category.
- Number of gears in the transmission, their gear ratios.
- Restrictions on use on public roads, possibility of use as a shuttle vehicle.
- Territory in which the registration of the vehicle is allowed.
- Theoretically there is a possibility to include other information in the EPTS: for instance, information on insurance and insured events, CMTPL, CMTPL, Casco, Green Card, damage, road accidents, technical inspection, maintenance and repairs.
- Information about restrictions and encumbrances.
Information to be submitted on the vehicle, chassis and self-propelled car PDF, 557 Kb
Customs Union’s regulation on safety of wheeled vehicles PDF, 197 ÊB
Eurasian Economic Commission Regulations on operation of electronic vehicle passports PDF, 213 ÊB
User manual on work with the electronic vehicle documents register, pp. 20-21 PDF, 1,38 MB
How to view the Electronic Vehicle Passport Register and get an extract
The owner of a car can access the electronic passports of all its vehicles. To do this, you only need to register on the EPA portal, the Electronic Vehicle Passport System. Here is how you can do it:
- Anonymously. You will not be asked to introduce yourself, but you will need to give your phone number and e-mail.
- As a natural person with login and password from State Services Website.
- As a natural person or representative of legal entity with electronic signature.
When registering anonymously, you will need to come up with a login and password, specify your email and cell phone
Registered on the portal the owner of the car will see only the electronic PTS of the vehicles belonging to him. This is what he can do:
The potential buyer of a used car can also register on the portal. Here is what he will be able to do, knowing the number of the EPTS or VIN of a particular vehicle:
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– For example, it can be valid, revoked or scrapped.
- Check information about restrictions.
- Check the information on the availability of the electronic passport: whether the vehicle has an EPTS, does not have this document or there is no information.
You can receive this information only if the car has an electronic vehicle registration certificate.
The portal services are chargeable.
For example, to enter information on the new owner when selling a car using the portal, you will have to pay 120 R . This is cheaper than the state duty of the State Automobile Inspection for making changes to the paper vehicle registration certificate and making changes to the electronic vehicle registration certificate by an authorized organization.
To get the extract from the cars VIN number it costs 250 R, anyone can do it. Considering the amount of information contained in the electronic passport, you may be able to save money on services that tell you about the history of your car
