JOIN USCall it strange coincidence, some have benefited from such changes. This has driven more to follow suit.
When it comes to getting fancy or lucky registration numbers, it is no different. Call it the craze for the numbers and Gujarat does not want to be left behind. Recently, when Suresh Patel shelled out Rs 4.51 lakh for a registration number of his choice, little did he think. And given his penchant for a number one less than 1000, it was no surprise that he did not mind paying the highest amount in the state for the vehicle registration number.
The bid was for the number 999 and the amount is the highest ever paid so far. The Regional Transport Office (RTO), Surat, had invited bids from vehicle owners for the registration numbers in new series, which they considered lucky.
When the bids were opened even the officials were taken aback by the amounts quoted by the prospective vehicle owners for favourite numbers. “The amount bid for 999 is highest in the history of Gujarat by any one person for a single number,” said Y A Bandi, inspector at RTO Surat. He added that till now no RTO office in the state has received a higher bid for a single number by a single person. More than 50 per cent of the numbers in the new CQ series have already been booked.
Officials pointed out apart from Patel, the second highest bid was by one Goman Ahir who paid Rs 2.34 lakh for the number 1 and the third highest amount was of Rs 1.53 lakh by one Babu Ahir for 9999.
Officials said that earlier there were auctions for single numbers but the bid did not go as high and ended up only in thousands. “This is the first time that the auction has attracted such a huge attention and large amount of money,” said Bandi.
Officials said that this bid has now encouraged the RTO to conduct such auctions when such numbers are on demand again as there would now be a bid to beat the previous record. RTO officials pointed out that the other numbers which were on auction included 99, 555 and 7777.
The RTO from this auction has earned an amount of Rs 77.20 lakh. No wonder, RTO officials were smiling as they made neat and quick money.