Channel Islands, Jersey: Number plate sells for £178,000 at auction
The Jersey registration number J 13 was sold by auctioneer Simon Drieu & Co Ltd, in an online auction held on Wednesday 15 April 2026. J 13 achieved a hammer price of £178,000 according to the EasyliveAuction.com website.
Jersey regulations state that registrations can only be sold when assigned to a vehicle, but do not stipulate that the bearer vehicle must be roadworthy at the time of the sale, so J 13 was sold along with the non-running scooter to which it had been assigned.
The Channel Islands aren't part of the UK or any other country, nor are they an independent country in their own right. They are Crown Dependencies, self-governing territories owned by the British Crown, but not actually a part of the UK and, as such, they have their own laws governing number plates.
So far as Regtransfers is aware, the most expensive Jersey number plate ever sold was J 4, which sold for £380,000 in 2020. The second most expensive was J 5, which achieved £350,000 in 2025. Also in 2025, J 69 sold for £230,000 to take third place in the price rankings, while this recent sale earns J 13 the title of fourth most expensive Jersey number plate.
Pakistan: Karachi drivers warned of plate crackdown
Drivers in the Pakistani city of Karachi have been given notice that they must ensure their vehicles display official number plates or risk being caught by a police operation that began at the end of March.
The police campaign is aimed at stamping out the use of what officials call "private, fancy or unapproved number plates", obscured plates and people driving without a license. Drivers were warned that the use of unofficial plates is against the law, and that the crackdown could become a regular campaign.
The first day of the operation saw more than 150 people fined for having illegal number plates, but the campaign was later paused due to bad weather. Police assigned to number plate enforcement tasks were instead redirected to help citizens during the bad weather.
Sri Lanka: Substantial fines for illegal number plates
Sri Lankan Police have announced that vehicles fitted with number plates that do not comply with legal requirements will be seized and their owners taken to court. Drivers are warned that fines for number plate offences range from LKR 15,000 to LKR 25,000 (approx. £35 to £58). While the fines may seem modest by UK standards, average monthly earnings in Sri Lanka are below £220.
Deputy Inspector General of Police W.P.J. Senadheera told a press conference that legal action would be taken against vehicles displaying number plates that fail to meet required specifications. He also said that, while there had been delays in issuing number plates for new vehicles in recent months, the issue was expected to be resolved soon.
According to Sri Lanka's rules, front number plates must display black letters and numbers on a white background, and rear plates must display black letters and numbers on a yellow background, as in the UK.
United Arab Emirates, Sharjah: Local hero retrieves hundreds of number plates lost in flooding
A resident of Muweileh, a suburban area of Sharjah City in the Emirate of Sharjah, UAE, has impressed local drivers by retrieving more than 200 number plates that were torn off by floodwater during recent stormy weather. Saneeh Hasan decided that the cost and inconvenience caused by getting replacement plates made it worthwhile to try to save detached plates from the flood and give owners a chance to get them back.
Mr Hasan, who posted his efforts to Instagram, said, “I know how hard it is to get number plates. It's very costly, around AED 400 dirham (about £80), so I thought it would help others."
His Instagram reel received hundreds of thousands of views in a few days and motivated people to help him out. “Many people started messaging me over my Instagram now like 'I got some plates with me' or 'I saw plates here you can go and collect them,'" Mr Hasan told reporters.
The plates Mr Hasan retrieves from the water are passed to the police. Drivers who have lost plates are advised to contact the police to see if their plates are amongst those saved by Mr Hasan.
Republic of Ireland: More than 5,000 drivers fined for illegal number plates in gardaí roadside checks
Figures published by ROI's Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, showed a total of 5,059 vehicles were detected with non-regulation number plates between October 2025 and February 2026.
The gardaí (Irish police) division that issued the most fines out of the country's 21 gardaí divisions was the Louth/Cavan/Monaghan division, which dished out 505 fines, accounting for approximately 1 in 10 of number plate penalties to date. Other gardaí divisions that issued high numbers of fines were Laois/Offaly (497 fines), Mayo/Roscommon/Longford (441) and Cork County (431). In contrast, other divisions, such as Cork City, Dublin East, Donegal, Limerick and Meath/Westmeath, have detected comparatively few offences.
Ireland's gardaí have the power to issue a fixed fine of €60 for each non-compliant registration plate. Enforcement was initially impeded by an issue with handheld equipment used at checkpoints, but that was resolved some months ago.
Road safety groups say that they are encouraged by the fines issued as a result of the crackdown on illegal plates as they fear that offenders use illegal number plates to avoid getting caught for more dangerous road traffic offences, such as speeding.
Amongst the most commonly found points that make number plates non-compliant are custom fonts, 3D/4D designs, wrong plate sizes and wrong background or character colours. Plates are also sometimes found to be missing the required EU flag or IRL mark.
Ghana: Ghana's DVLA to introduce radio-tracking number plates
The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority has announced plans to introduce high-tech number plates to make it easier for authorities to trace and identify vehicles, and to enforce the law.
Julius Neequaye Kotey said that the new radio frequency identification (RFID) enabled number plates would form part of a broader reform of Ghana's vehicle registration system.
"We are preparing to implement one of the most significant upgrades of Ghana's vehicle registration system, the introduction of RFID-enabled number plates," Mr Kotey said. "These plates will be integrated into a central database, enhancing vehicle traceability, strengthening enforcement and addressing long-standing challenges such as unregistered and cross-border vehicles."
Owners of vehicles were urged to cooperate with the measures as the changes were not punitive but necessary to build a more secure and efficient transport system for the country.
