GOVERNMENT WILL ALLOW PERSONALISED NUMBER PLATES ON VEHICLES

ROME, OCTOBER 29 /SRNA-Reuters/ - Italy's government will allow motorists to personalise the number plates of their vehicles, in a revenue-raising move, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said.

She announced the measure as she unveiled Italy's 2027 budget law, the last before a general election due next year.

"Something tells me that Italians' creativity could shine here," Meloni said.

According to a decree, personalised plates will cost about 600 euros for cars and 360 euros for motor-bikes.

A Treasury official declined to estimate how much revenue the government expects the measure to generate.

Italian car number plates are currently made of a string of two letters, three numbers and two letters. The extent to which motorists will be allowed to stray from the standard formula is unclear.

The reform has triggered a wave of memes and jokes on social media, amid concerns that personalized license plates could open the flood-gates to insults and profanities.