What North Carolina drivers need to know now that plate stickers are gone

North Carolina drivers who register or renew a vehicle no longer get a license plate sticker or a printed registration card. Since October 1, the state Division of Motor Vehicles has run an all-electronic registration system, after lawmakers dropped the requirement for both in this year's budget.

Anyone who renewed on or before September 30 still got a sticker and card. Anyone renewing on October 1 or later won't, DMV spokesman Marty Homan told WUNC. The NCDMV recommends taking old stickers off your plate on or after October 1.

The biggest question for drivers in Charlotte and across the state is what happens when they get pulled over. You don't need to carry a printed copy, and the DMV says you'll never be asked to hand over your phone so an officer can check your registration. Officers use their own electronic systems.

"Law enforcement doesn't need the registration card," Homan told WCTI. "They haven't for many years. They have their own system that connects to our system and they know whether your registration is up to date or not."

Driving out of state is a little less certain. The DMV says digital registration is accepted in most states and suggests keeping a downloaded or printed copy as a backup.

Getting that copy is free. On the DMV's website, enter your license plate number and the last five digits of your vehicle's title number to download a PDF you can save or print. A printed copy costs $5 at a license plate agency or by mail. You can also ask for a copy by email when you renew online, at a self-service kiosk, or at a license plate agency. Starting in 2027, registrations will also show up in the NC Wallet app alongside the state's Mobile ID, according to the DMV. For help downloading a copy, the DMV's number is 919-715-7000, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Everything else about registration stays the same. "What is changing is the end product customers receive," NCDMV Commissioner Paul Tine said, according to WECT. "Only the physical sticker and printed registration card are going away."

That means you still renew every year and pay your registration fees and vehicle property taxes on time, or face late fees, citations, interest, or collections. You still need a safety inspection no more than 90 days before renewal, plus an emissions inspection in 19 counties. Inspection stations can look up your vehicle using the barcode on your digital registration, your property tax notice, or a recent DMV receipt. Renewal notices still come in the mail about 90 days before your registration expires.

The state says the paper had become largely redundant. Police can already check registration status electronically, and the DMV says ending stickers saves money and cuts down on sticker fraud.

Not everyone is sold. Some residents told reporters the switch could be hard on older drivers and people without reliable internet. "My personal take would be that it's just going to be difficult for the older population to get used to going online," Kyle Alligood of Washington, North Carolina, told WITN.

A couple of groups are handled differently. Changes to dealer plates are still in the works and didn't take effect October 1. Commercial trucks registered under the International Registration Plan now get a receipt with instructions to download their cab card online, and the DMV says the card must show a barcode to be valid.

Sources

• NCDMV: Get your digital vehicle registration
• WUNC via WHQR: Two longtime staples of owning a car in North Carolina will soon go away
• WCTI: North Carolina DMV ends license plate stickers, printed vehicle registration cards
• WECT: NC drivers say goodbye to paper registration cards, stickers
• WITN: DMV registration now digital, what NC drivers need to know
• WRAL: NCDMV goes fully digital with vehicle registration