The UK's vehicle number plates do not, in isolation, currently present a sufficient security challenge to prevent their misuse by criminals. That much is clearly demonstrated in December 2025, when the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Transport Safety published a report entitled Ghosts on the Road: Tackling the Rise in Illegal Registration Plates. The report's publication coincided with a flurry of melodramatic news headlines about so-called "ghost plates". The UK's vehicle registration plate system was under scrutiny from many quarters. Regtransfers has reported previously how the term 'ghost plates' has been used to refer to several different things: number plates that have been manufactured, altered or treated to be unreadable by traffic enforcement and ANPR cameras; 3D and 4D number plates with raised characters that can be difficult for cameras to image clearly, and cloned/copied number plates that display a registration number copied from another, often similar, vehicle to which that number is legally registered.
We have also repeatedly reported that many innocent drivers have received penalties for speeding, for failure to pay charges incurred in congestion and low-emission zones and other motoring offences. In reality, these offences are increasingly being committed by drivers using cloned, stolen or altered number plates.
Valid points
The APPG findings highlighted some clear weaknesses in the current regulations, systems and procedures involved in supplying vehicle number plates. These findings are reflected in the report’s recommendations, which are:
- Standardise design of registration plates, with security features to bring the UK up to international standards. Ban the use of 3D and 4D plates.
- Significantly restrict the number of licensed sellers via annual fees, regular audits and removal of non-compliant sellers.
- Introduce background screening of suppliers including criminal record checks.
- Educate drivers about the risks of illegal plates and the rogue traders who sell them.
- Mandate compliance checks as part of the MOT.
- Increase the fine and give offenders points for use of an illegal plate and seize vehicles of repeat offenders.
- Ensure police forces have the equipment and training to tackle non-compliance.
- Clamp down on illegal sales and strengthen DVLA powers for prosecution of rogue suppliers.
- Establish a national task force on number plate compliance and develop a national approach to tackling broader non-compliance.
- Strengthen and enforce rules around ‘registered keeper’ information to identify vehicle ownership.
The recommendations recognise areas where vulnerabilities make it easier for people to obtain number plates without stringent enforcement of, or adherence to, laws and regulations. They also acknowledge a degree of ambiguity and uncertainty about some aspects of the current British Standard for number plates, and pinpoint currently legal plate features that may compromise plate readability. This is all well and good, but even if all the report's recommendations were implemented, they would not eliminate the problem of false and illegal number plates.
Not seeing the bigger picture
Superficially, the findings and recommendations of the Ghosts on the Road report look fairly comprehensive. They foreshadow a number of legislative and regulatory changes aimed at making it harder for criminals to get false or illegal number plates. Implementation of the recommendations would probably reduce the number of illegal number plates on the road. For a while.
The thing about criminals is that they don't comply with regulations and laws, no matter how strict. That's kind of stated in their job description: they commit crime.
So long as there is an underground market for reflective or anti-reflective paints, sprays and films, someone will make and supply them. Even if the supply of the materials used to manufacture number plates is tightly controlled, criminals will improvise with the materials that are available. Polycarbonate sheets may be bought from DIY stores, colour printers are found in homes and offices... Criminals won't need plates that meet the British Standard: they'll just want something that will not be obvious to the casual glance of a policeman.
Even if number plates become harder to make, they remain fairly easy to steal. Changes to regulations, beefing up penalties and enforcement... None of these will deter or prevent those determined to mask the identities of the cars they use to commit crime.
The recommendations of the report are all sensible. What they are not is adequate.
If the fundamental problem is the lack of a robust and reliable way to identify vehicles in motion, then number plates alone will not provide the solution. What is needed is some additional means of identification that is not so easy for criminals to defeat.
What are the possibilities?
Vehicle tracking
One obvious contender would be vehicle tracking. There are various extant networks via which authorities could track vehicles, including the mobile phone networks and GPS. Radio transponders have been used for years by car makers to track cars as they progress through the manufacturing process, and by retailers of other products to track goods for stock control and security purposes.
Any kind of tracking or surveillance will be opposed, or at least carefully scrutinised, by individuals and groups concerned about personal freedoms and civil liberties. That scepticism is perfectly proper and understandable: any understanding of who collects and stores information about us is a good thing and is to be encouraged. That said, before making a fuss about the possibility of trackers being a compulsory feature of cars in the future, we should remember that vehicle tracking is already commonplace, and it is very likely that your car already has at least one tracker aboard.
Many insurance companies insist that insured cars should carry a Thatcham-approved tracker as a deterrent against theft and as a way to locate the vehicle if it actually does get stolen. It is a common requirement in order to get the full benefit from a policy, and without the tracker, insurance cover may be limited. "Black boxes" are another kind of tracker used by insurers. These keep an eye on driving technique and behaviour, and are used to assess the insurance risk posed by a driver, or demographic group of drivers.
There is one kind of locator device that has had to be included in all newly built cars since 2018. Both EU and UK law require cars to have an SOS button which, when activated, sends an emergency call including the location of the vehicle. Some manufacturers have combined this with additional, limited tracking abilities that work in conjunction with proprietary apps to offer extra functions and benefits.
Beyond what is achieved by the nation's ever-expanding network of ANPR, CCTV and traffic/speed cameras, there is currently no routine, remote tracking of vehicles in the UK by law enforcement or government departments.
"Digital" number plates
Digital number plates are plates that use electrically powered display screens instead of characters printed onto plastic. They are already in use in some parts of the world, but are not currently approved for use in the UK. As digital plates do not meet the requirements of British Standard BS AU 145e, they cannot be legally used here as car registration plates.
Apart from the screen that displays the car's registration/license plate number on an electronic display, similar to the screens on ebook readers such as Kindle, the exact specifications and functions of digital number plates vary according to the requirements and regulations of the region where they are used. Amongst the additional features that may be present in a digital plate are:
- The ability to display a vehicle's licence or registration status. Some regions display alerts that registration is due, or overdue, for renewal.
- Space for custom messages or alerts. This may display security-related alerts, such as notifications that the plates have been tampered with or removed, or that the vehicle bearing the plates has been reported stolen.
- Some regions may allow use of space on digital number plates for commercial advertising messages.
- Location tracking. This can assist in finding stolen vehicles. It may also monitor trips for speed and mileage, and have fleet management applications for large companies owning many vehicles.
- The facility to manage number plate functionality by use of a connected smartphone app.
Africa and the United States are leading regions in the adoption of digital and "smart" number plates.
Uganda began issuing digital licence plates in January 2025, and Gauteng province in South Africa has unveiled its own digital plates, which are currently in a 6-month trial period before being rolled out for general use.
In the USA, digital number plates have been approved for sale in several states so far, including Arizona, California and Texas, although approval in Texas is currently for commercial vehicles only. According to Reviver, America's leading developer and supplier of digital plates, the following states are in the process of approving them for sale:
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Georgia
- Illinois
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Washington
Conclusion
So far, no real alternative to car number plates has appeared. Those solutions that are being trialled or adopted around the world are all adaptations or enhancements intended to improve the effectiveness and facility of number plates, rather than attempts to replace them. Even those enhancements are being met with some suspicion and resistance. People are always wary of surveillance. The pro-democracy tech research lab Thraets.org said this about Uganda's digital number plates.
The new system, known as the Intelligent Transport Monitoring System (ITMS), is managed by Russian contractor, Joint Stock Global Security Company (JSGSC), which has no noticeable online presence. The system will transmit real-time location data, routes, and movement patterns of every vehicle fitted with the plates. This system intersects with Huawei’s “smart city” CCTV networks, which already blanket urban areas like Kampala. Together, they form an all-seeing infrastructure capable of tracking citizens’ movements, associations, and activities with alarming precision.
Any other vehicle tracking scheme will, no doubt, raise similar public concerns.
Regardless of whether digital number plates are eventually accepted and adopted in the UK and internationally, it seems obvious that we will always need some form of unique visual identifier for vehicles. Whatever form that may take, it will do the same job as a number plate. People will want a way to recognise their car at a glance. They will want information to pass onto authorities or emergency services in the event of an accident or crime. It is hard to imagine that registration numbers and physical number plates will be discontinued in the UK in the foreseeable future. They may change, but they will be around for a long time to come, and as long as our cars have number plates, people will want to personalise them. Our private number plates are safe!
