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Oleksiy Kozachenko
correspondent
Checking a car by license plate in Ukraine: 5 effective methods and limitations
The evolution of digital technologies, the emergence of apps, and simplified access to government registries have made possible what was previously only seen in detective series. Now, collecting data on the owner of a car by its license plate number has become a reality.
Such checks can be implemented for various purposes. For example, to check the legal purity of transport before purchase, to clarify the circumstances of a road accident, to search for witnesses or the owner in case of damage to a parked car. The editorial staff of the Delo.ua portal has updated the current information on checking cars by number. Read also the detailed algorithm of actions for conducting such a check in the material.
5 effective ways to check a car by license plate number
In fact, a suspicious car is much easier to track than, say, a passerby. In addition, the state obliges car owners to keep their license plates clean, because no matter what you say, a car is a vehicle with increased danger. This is emphasized by Article 1187 of the Civil Code of Ukraine , which also explains the need for openness of data about vehicles. Currently, there are five ways to check a car by license plate.
Search for a car by license plate number via Opendatabot chatbots in Telegram or Viber
Opendatabot is one of the most convenient options for “breaking through” the necessary information. It is a service that provides access to state registers and allows you to check data about companies, people, real estate, and transport.
Opendatabot can provide meaningful information by vehicle registration number
The service takes information about cars from the Ministry of Internal Affairs register. The bot can be launched in Telegram or Viber . In the request, it is enough to enter the car number to get official data, including:
- car number and information about the replacement of the technical passport or changes in the design that required re-registration,
- make, model, curb weight, body type and engine capacity.
And while Opendatabot provides more data than some other services, it’s still impossible to identify a specific car owner. The service itself notes that “car owners are not public information.”
How to check a car by license plate number through websites
You can not install additional applications and check the car by license plate through websites. Such services use the same official registers as mobile applications: the Ministry of Internal Affairs databases and, in fact, Opendatabot. For example, these are resources such as CarDetect , UNDA and the information resource AvtoNomera . Using websites, you can find out:
- basic data about the car: make, model, year of manufacture, body type and engine capacity;
- information about the VIN code and changes made to the design that required re-registration;
- whether the car is wanted in Ukraine or abroad;
- maintenance history and accident involvement (if open data is available).
An example of how you can check a car by license plate number via the website.
By the way, the sites also do not provide personal data of the car owner. If you need to identify the owner, for example, in the event of an accident or a crime, this can only be done through law enforcement agencies.
Search for a car by license plate number via applications
There are many mobile applications for checking cars by license plate, but in most cases they only duplicate data from the registers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Opendatabot. The difference mainly lies in the design, method of data entry and the order of their issuance. For example, in some applications the number must be entered manually, while others try to recognize it from a photo of the car. However, in practice, the image recognition method often works unreliable.
Apart from a convenient interface, such applications do not provide fundamentally new data when compared to the same Opendatabot.
Some programs offer advanced information about a car for a fee, such as whether it was purchased at an auction in the US. However, this data can be found in public registries and on specialized websites, and it is completely free.
Please also note that such applications may collect user data and even transfer it to third parties.
Checking a car by VIN code
Most services that search by license plate number also support checking by VIN code, such as the OpenCars platform . VIN code is a unique vehicle identification number of seventeen characters. VIN code contains encrypted information about the manufacturer, model, year of manufacture and technical specifications of the car.
How to check a car by VIN code on websites using OpenCars as an example.
There are also specialized paid services that generate advanced reports: they can contain data on mileage, repair history, participation in accidents or insurance cases. That is, information that is of primary interest to buyers of used cars.
How to check a car through the Ministry of Internal Affairs' wanted database
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine has an open online database of wanted vehicles . This is an official source that allows you to check whether a car is listed as stolen or seized. To do this, simply enter the vehicle registration number or VIN code.
You can check on the Ministry of Internal Affairs website whether a vehicle is wanted.
Here, the data is provided directly from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and therefore can be considered as reliable and up-to-date as possible. This is a reliable way to make sure that the car is “clean” and avoid risks associated with possible legal problems.
How to find out the owner of a car by number?
There is no publicly available information about vehicle owners. No official service provides personal data, as this is protected by privacy law.
“No one may be subjected to interference with his personal and family life, except in cases provided for by the Constitution of Ukraine.
“The collection, storage, use and dissemination of confidential information about a person without his or her consent is not allowed, except in cases specified by law, and only in the interests of national security, economic well-being and human rights,” states Article 32 of the Constitution of Ukraine.
Therefore, it is not worth counting on some paid application to provide such information. Moreover, citizens' privacy is protected by law, in particular Article 182 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine .
According to this provision, such actions are punishable by a fine of 500 to 1,000 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens, or by correctional labor for a term of up to 2 years , or by probationary supervision for a term of up to 3 years , or by restriction of liberty for the same term.
However, information about the owner can be obtained through the police, in the event that an accident has occurred with this car or if the owner has committed a crime, for example. To do this, you must submit a written request with justification for the reasons why such information is needed. The request will be considered in accordance with current legislation.
