Italy's motorists are to be allowed to partially personalise their number plates in future. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to ANSA following the Council of Ministers meeting that approved the 2027 budget bill. A pair of front and rear plates for a car will carry a fee of 600 euros, while a single motorcycle plate will cost 360 euros. The standard registration fee of 41.78 euros currently applicable to cars will not apply when a personalised option is chosen. Meloni is evidently counting on a great deal of creativity from Italian car owners.
600 Euros: How the fee breaks down
According to Quifinanza , the 600 euros for a car breaks down into 500 euros for the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, which manufactures the plates, and a 100-euro surcharge for the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT). For motorcycles, 300 euros go to the Poligrafico and 60 euros as a surcharge to the MIT, totalling 360 euros. Those who opt for a personalised plate will, however, save the standard registration and activation fee of 41.78 euros for a car and 45.31 euros for a motorcycle. The net additional cost therefore amounts to around 558 euros for a car and around 315 euros for a motorcycle. According to Il Fatto Quotidiano , the measure is also classified in the budget bill as an additional source of revenue for the state budget; the draft does not, however, include a concrete forecast of the income expected.
Codice della Strada: An old framework, a new attempt
The legal basis for personalised number plates has existed in Italy since 2010 within the Codice della Strada, specifically in Article 100, paragraph 8. According to Sicurauto, the provision was never implemented, as the necessary implementing decree was lacking. An attempt by then Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli in 2019 also came to nothing, according to Sicurauto. The current Meloni government is now reviving the idea in the 2027 budget law, linking it to the ongoing reform of the Italian Highway Code, which also introduces new rules on other matters such as the handling of speed cameras . According to Sicurauto, applicants will submit a combination to the MIT, which will then be produced in series by the Poligrafico; delivery is expected to follow the same procedure as today, within 30 days of the vehicle registration document being issued.
Timeline: From the 2027 budget law to implementation in 2028
The 2027 budget law, which contains the new regulation, must be passed by parliament by 31 December 2026, according to Sicurauto; amendments remain possible during the parliamentary process. The legislative decree on the reformed Codice della Strada is scheduled for spring 2027, with entry into force on 30 April 2027. The new rules are expected to apply on the roads from 1 January 2028. According to Sicurauto, vehicles already registered will only receive a personalised plate upon re-registration following theft, loss or damage; those who keep their existing vehicle will retain the standard plate. Sicurauto also notes that it is not yet certain whether the new plates will be available from the very first day of application.
What can appear on them: Letters and digits rather than symbols
According to Fanpage, the legislative text refers to a freely chosen sequence of personalised alphanumeric characters, that is, letters and digits. The regulation does not provide for graphic symbols, logos, flags or coloured elements. The current standard format in Italy consists of two letters, three digits and two letters; whether this format will be retained or relaxed depends on the implementing regulation (Regolamento) that is still pending. The maximum length of the personalised character sequence has also not yet been determined, according to Fanpage. Applicants will therefore be able to combine characters within the permitted classes, but will not have entirely free rein.
What will not be permitted: Duplicate and ambiguous combinations
Which specific character combinations will ultimately be permissible has not yet been definitively established, according to Il Fatto Quotidiano. Combinations that are offensive, ambiguous or already in use are to be excluded; a sigla already assigned to another registered vehicle in the central CED system cannot be chosen. According to ANSA, Meloni describes the fee as a deliberately set price for this degree of creative freedom. At the same time, she announced that the exemption from the vehicle ownership tax (bollo auto) for vehicles up to 80 kilowatts, as well as for motorcycles, would be made permanent; this affects, according to her figures, around 70 per cent of vehicles on the road.
