Yes, they are mandatory for you to drive on the public road. They are even part of vehicle safety inspection. So, if you don’t have a proper license plate light, you won’t get the permit to use the vehicle on public roads. If the light burns out after getting the permit and if you take your car out when it’s dark, you will get pulled over by the police. And they sure will ticket you a pretty heavy fine. Driving the vehicle without license plate lights is legally the same as obscuring the license plate. Even though no law specifically talks about the lights itself, it is understood that you should have proper lights for the license plate to be visible at night.