Vehicle registration in Ecuador is composed of two parts. The vehicle registration document that describes the vehicle characteristics, such as the year of manufacture and vehicle identification number; and the vehicle owner's information, such as name and address. The registration must be renewed every four years. The registration plates which display a unique registration letter-number combination. These must be placed on the front and rear of the vehicle. Two plates are issued for each vehicle, except motorcycles which receive one plate, and they should be inspected for serviceability every year. If the plates are damaged they should be replaced. Current plates Plate characteristics The plates are 154 mm high and 404 mm wide and are reflective in order to improve their visibility. The unique letter-number combination consists of three letters followed by three or four digits ranging from 000 to 9999. Formats in use are ABC-123 (old format) and ABC-1234 (new format). The word "Ecuador" appears in uppercase letters at the top of the plate. Letter codes The first letter in the letter-number combination indicates the province of issue. The second letter, also called the "key letter", identifies the type of license plate (described below). Some plates have a small 'D' at the top right of the plate, meaning Duplicata or duplicate. The 'D' is used when the original plate is, for instance, lost or damaged. Plate colors Depending on the type of vehicle, license plates have different colors. Since June 2012, with the modification of the vehicle code, the form of the license plates was modified. Private vehicles continue with black characters on a white background. For non-private vehicles, the new license plates keep the same differentiating color as previously used, but the color is no longer applied to the entire license plate. These newer plates only have a colored upper border, and the rest of the license plate is white. This change was made in a way that improves the visibility of license plates, in particular to cameras and radars. All older style plates were expected to be replaced by 2019; however, the older style plates will remain valid until replaced. Vehicle types Standard plates The background color of license plates varies according to the second letter and identifies the type of vehicle as shown in the following table. Only in the Guyas province there is a light blue crest with the legend COMISION DE TRANSITO DE LA