Chandigarh youth keen to rev on AK-47

Gunning the engine

Over two dozen youth from the city and elsewhere in Punjab, who are registered for Friday’s auction will bid and dig deep into their pockets to be the ‘proud’ owners of these two special numbers.

Chandigarh has always displayed a strange fancy for such special series, single and double digit VIP numbers etched on number plates. Last year, the auction for number 0001 fetched a whopping Rs 10 lakh for the Chandigarh administration.   

The Registering and Licensing Authority RLA) is hoping that AK-47 and AK-56 numbers beat the other ridiculously exorbitant special digit numbers.  The auction for these two numbers will commence with a ‘reasonable’ reserve price of Rs 10,000 for which as many as 25 participants are lined up to bid.

Based on its feedback, the administration decided to hold back these numbers and sell them as paid numbers. Auctioning of paid numbers, including the most sought after single and double digits, is in fact a major source of earning for the administration.  “A special or a VIP number etched on the number plate perhaps assuages an already tall ego of city lads.
That’s why they burn their pockets to possess such numbers,” an RLA official said.

There are more applicants for AK-47 number for Friday’s auction. In all, there are over 500 registration numbers that will be auctioned at a price. Officials said on an average,  the number 0001 fetches between Rs 3 - 4 lakh.

Registering and Licensing Officer Sanjeev Kohli said the AK-47 and AK-56 numbers look like the most sought after ones, at least going by the bookings for Friday’s auction.