The Indian vehicle terms and the ATAP terms used across these guides, each in a sentence or two, plus a key to the small pixel symbols.
3 min read · Updated October 28, 2026
Vehicle paperwork in India has a lot of short names, and ATAP adds a few of its own. This page defines each one once. Use it as a lookup, and follow the links from the guides back here when a word is new.
Camera. The live camera on the report page.
Plate. A vehicle's number plate.
Pin. A place, when one was shared.
Bell. An alert to an owner.
Clock. Time: a wait, a window or a shift.
Lock. Something kept private.
Shield. Protection and review.
Tick. Approved or acknowledged.
Flag. A dispute or a concern.
Bin. Something deleted.
Calendar. An expiry date or a reminder.
Document. Papers and records.
Key. Access, as in a shift link.
Phone. Your own device.
The small pixel symbols used on this site, with what each stands for.
Vehicle and paperwork terms
RC. The registration certificate. It names the registered owner and carries the plate number.
RTO. The Regional Transport Office that registers vehicles and issues licences in an area.
PUC. The pollution under control certificate, which has an expiry date and has to be renewed.
Fitness certificate. Required for some commercial vehicles, with its own expiry date.
HSRP. The high security registration plate, a standard plate with a fixed lettering style and a hologram.
Bharat series. A plate format that begins with the year and the letters BH, meant for people who move between states.
Vahan. The national register of vehicles run by the transport ministry. ATAP is not connected to it.
Terms we use
Report. A photo, a plate, a category and a time, sent by someone who saw a vehicle on the road. It goes to the owner and nowhere else.
Praise. A report that says a driver did something well. It is kept apart from reports.
Incident. Reports on one vehicle that arrive close together, grouped so the owner gets one alert.
Claim. A request to be recognised as the owner of a vehicle, with an RC and a photo.
Verified owner. A person whose claim a member of ATAP staff approved. Only they receive alerts and can reply.
Sticker. The decal with a QR code. In some places you will also see it called a tag.
Ping. A move my car message. It is not a report.
Shift link. A secret link an owner gives a driver so that the driver can mark when a shift starts and ends.
Roster. A list of vehicles that an organisation keeps together.
Dispute. An owner saying a report is wrong, with a reason, which goes to staff.
Uphold and hide. The two outcomes of a dispute. Uphold keeps the report. Hide takes it out of view.