Due to various reasons (such as evading traffic violations or during a license suspension), some individuals are unable to use their vehicles with normal license plates. It has been discovered that counterfeit license plates are being sold on social media platforms. After purchasing these plates and mounting them on their vehicles, they were caught by the police and referred for legal action.
Recently, during a roadside joint inspection, the Penghu Station, Kaohsiung Motor Vehicles Office found a vehicle with a suspected counterfeit license plate. Investigation revealed that the vehicle's license plate was under suspension by the Penghu Station, Kaohsiung Motor Vehicles Office. Additionally, the vehicle had multiple speeding violations recorded by speed cameras during the suspension period. This led to a strong suspicion that the currently mounted license plate was counterfeit. Consequently, the Penghu Station, Kaohsiung Motor Vehicles Office immediately notified the police to handle the case criminally and requested the vehicle owner to explain. The owner admitted to purchasing a counterfeit license plate on a social media platform and mounting it on the vehicle during the suspension period. The police then referred the case to the district prosecutor's office for investigation.
According to Articles 8 and 9 of the Road Traffic Safety Regulations, the format, color, and number of license plates are determined by the Ministry of Transportation, and the license plate serves as the driving permit. Vehicle owners must apply for registration with the highway supervisory authority, and any license plate not issued by the highway supervisory authority is considered invalid. If involved in manufacturing, selling, or using counterfeit license plates on the road, users will be fined up to NT$10,800 according to Article 12 of the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act. Additionally, manufacturing, selling, or using counterfeit license plates violates Article 212 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of China, which can result in imprisonment for up to one year, detention, or a fine of up to NT$9,000.
The Penghu Station, Kaohsiung Motor Vehicles Office will continue to monitor incidents of forged license plates and urges the public not to purchase or use counterfeit license plates from online platforms or other channels to avoid violating Administrative Penalty Act and Criminal Code of the Republic of China, which would not be worth the consequences.
Source：Penghu Station, Kaohsiung Motor Vehicles Office
Contact Person： Mr. Chen, Chief of the First Subsection
Contact Information：06-9211167 ext.101