Chennai RTO Guide: Driving Licence, Vehicle Registration, RTO Codes & Online Services

Chennai's motor vehicle registration and licensing functions are handled by Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) under Tamil Nadu's Commissionerate of Transport and Road Safety, each identified by a TN code.

This guide covers the metropolitan area's core roster — TN-01 through TN-14, excluding TN-08, TN-11 and TN-12, which fall outside the verified core set for this page — along with addresses, contact details, online services, licensing, registration, test facilities, HSRP and fees.

PIN codes are not a reliable stand-in for jurisdiction. Two nearby PIN codes can fall under different RTOs, and this table reflects only the eleven area designations confirmed for this page — it is not a full PIN-to-RTO database. If your locality isn't listed here, confirm your RTO directly with the Transport Department rather than guessing from a nearby PIN.

The table below gives each office's current address, phone number, email and PIN, cross-checked against multiple independent RTO directories per office (see Sources). Call ahead before visiting — offices occasionally move floors or extensions within the same building, and a couple of these numbers have a second, less-used extension not shown here.

*A smaller number of directories list the TN-05 office at a different address — MKB Nagar, Vyasarpadi, 600012, phone 044-26732525 — instead of Kolathur. The Sastri Nagar/Kolathur address above has stronger, more consistent support (four independent listings, including a matching email), so it's stated as the address here. If you're relying on this for a visit, a quick call to confirm is still worth it.

Office Hours

Office hours are 10:00 AM–5:45 PM, with the public counter open 10:00 AM–1:30 PM and token distribution closing at 1:00 PM. Offices are closed on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays, all Sundays, and Tamil Nadu gazetted public holidays. Confirm these against the current notice at your office before visiting, since counter hours and holiday treatment can change.

Like most Indian states, Tamil Nadu runs a growing list of "contactless" or "faceless" citizen services through the Sarathi (driving licence) and Vahan (vehicle) portals — things like learner's licence applications, address changes, duplicate RC and NOC requests can usually be started, and often finished, without a counter visit. Not every RTO transaction is online: biometric steps, the practical driving test, and some in-person document verifications still need a visit. Check Parivahan (Sarathi/Vahan) for the current status of a specific service before assuming it's contactless.

At a high level, the licensing path runs through Sarathi:

1. Apply for a Learner's Licence (LL) online through Sarathi.

2. Take the LL test (largely online/computer-based under the national Sarathi framework).

3. After the mandated waiting period, apply for a Permanent Driving Licence.

4. Complete the practical driving test at a designated facility.

The exact current appointment/slot process, document checklist, and any Chennai-specific scheduling detail are not confirmed for this page and are not stated here. Use Sarathi's official portal for the current step-by-step process before applying.

Tamil Nadu's automated driving test track (ADTT) rollout — a joint programme between the state Transport Department and Maruti Suzuki — has so far named Coimbatore (Central), Tiruvannamalai, Krishnagiri, Madurai (North), Sivagangai, Dindigul and Tiruchirappalli (West) as inaugurated sites, with Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Marthandam due to follow.

If you're testing at any of the eleven offices in this roster, confirm the test-ground arrangement — automated or conventional — directly through Sarathi or by calling the office before your test date.

Vehicle registration, ownership transfer, address changes and hypothecation-related transactions fall under the Vahan services referenced above. The current step-by-step process, which parts are online versus requiring a visit, and the documents each transaction needs are not confirmed for this page. Use Vahan's official portal for the current requirements before starting a transaction.

High Security Registration Plate (HSRP) requirements differ depending on a vehicle's registration date and whether the plate was fitted at the factory or by the dealer at the point of sale. Vehicles that received factory- or dealer-fitted HSRP at registration generally don't need a separate RTO visit for this. Older vehicles registered before HSRP fitment became standard may need a separate arrangement — the current implementation status and process for those vehicles is not confirmed for this page. Don't rely on third-party vendor claims about mandatory RTO-counter visits; confirm current requirements with the Transport Department or Parivahan.

1. Commissionerate of Transport and Road Safety | Government of Tamil Nadu

2. Location of Offices of Transport Department (Official Directory PDF) | Commissionerate of Transport and Road Safety, Government of Tamil Nadu, July 2024

3. Chennai District Administration — Regional Transport Offices Directory | District Collectorate, Chennai / National Informatics Centre

4. Parivahan Sewa — Driving Licence Services (Sarathi) | Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India

5. Parivahan Sewa — Vehicle Registration Services (Vahan) | Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India

6. Maruti Suzuki expands its road safety efforts, adds 7 automated driving test tracks (ADTTs) in Tamil Nadu under its CSR initiative | The Hans India, 2024