In a move aimed at enhancing transparency and oversight of government-owned vehicles, the Council of Ministers, chaired by Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan, approved on Saturday a new amendment to the vehicle license plate system for government, temporary import, and diplomatic vehicles.

Under the new system, numeric codes on these license plates will be replaced with clearly identifiable letter codes that indicate the authority to which each vehicle belongs, as follows:

PM: Prime Minister and Ministers

SN: Senate

PR: House of Representatives

JC: Judicial Council

GV: Government Entities

AQ: Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority

CD: Diplomatic Corps

TM: Temporary Import

The Drivers and Vehicles Licensing Department (DVLD) will be responsible for determining the procedures for replacing the existing plates used by government institutions. It was also emphasized that this change will not affect the license plates of private, public transport, or freight vehicles.

In a related decision, the Council of Ministers approved allocating the proceeds from the auction of all distinctive plate numbers regardless of their coding to the University Student Support Fund, starting from the upcoming academic semester. This is in addition to the fund’s allocated budget, which was increased by 50% this year to reach 30 million dinars.

This initiative is expected to expand the number of university students benefiting from the fund, thereby supporting broader access to higher education.

It’s worth noting that the use of letters instead of numbers for vehicle plates is a widely adopted practice internationally and is considered a global best practice in vehicle licensing systems. The updated system will also allow for the sale and purchase of distinguished license plates without requiring a transfer of vehicle ownership, streamlining procedures and increasing flexibility in the license plate market.