State Duma deputies from the New People faction, led by Deputy Speaker of the lower house of parliament Vladislav Davankov, took the initiative to change the format of state registration number plates - to enter four letters and two digits on them instead of the usual three digits and three letters. A letter with this proposal was sent to the head of the Government of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin.
"It seems appropriate to provide for the possibility of switching from the current format of the state registration mark containing three alphanumeric and three numeric characters to a format providing for the use of four alphanumeric and two numeric characters (for example, AAAA00), or an alternative version of two letters — two digits — two letters (for example, AA 00 AA), with the preservation of the current size of the registration mark, the location of the code of the subject of the Russian Federation, the designation "RUS" and the image of the state flag of the Russian Federation," the letter says, excerpts of which are quoted by TASS.
The deputies insist that replacing one numeric position with an alphabetic one will increase the number of possible registration combinations for one code of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation by approximately 20%.
"At the same time, the proposed concept does not require a change in the size of the registration plate, retains the current system of codes of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and does not imply a change in the general procedure for state registration of vehicles," the document says.
Parliamentarians argue that such a measure will create the prerequisites for the development of an official mechanism for providing sought—after registration combinations - "beautiful numbers" that can provide additional revenues to the country's budget.
In addition, the letter also proposes to allow car owners to reserve unique and individual license plates for a fee through the Gosuslugi portal. Half of the funds received are supposed to be used to form a Monetary Allowance Fund for employees of the internal affairs bodies.
"The main purpose of the bill is to legalize the existing shadow market of "beautiful" license plates and send related payments to the budget," the deputies write.