The fancy registration number auction by the Transport department on Tuesday received a lukewarm response yet again with only 11 numbers going under the hammer.

The number 9999, continued to retain its most sought-after tag and went for Rs 1.3 lakh while 0001 went for Rs 40,000 in the KA 03 MX series under Indiranagar RTO. Overall, the department earned Rs 1.8 lakh from the auction in addition to the registration fee of  Rs 8.25 lakh (Rs 75,000 each from the 11 successful bidders).

Transport Commissioner Rame Gowda, said, “From now on, 50 numbers of advanced series will be auctioned. As these numbers should be registered within three months, only serious bidders will take part in the auctions.”

Satish Shivananda, who secured the ‘9999’ said, “In the past, there was no clarity on fancy numbers. One was forced to pay bribe to the officials or influence the officials through other means, if one has to get a registration number of his choice.

Now, it is transparent and the government can get additional revenue as well.” There were three bidders for the number 9999 and Satish bagged it after an animated bidding session.

 There were a total of 22 bidders at the Transport Commissioner’s office to bid for 50 fancy numbers which were opened under the Indiranagar RTO KA 03MX series.

While most numbers – such as ‘0999’, ‘0045’, ‘0099’, ‘0007’, ‘5555, ‘0666’ – went for Rs. 1,000 (in addition to the Rs. 75,000 minimum registration amount), ‘0001’ went for Rs. 41,000 and ‘9999’ will now adorn the SUV owned by Natraj Nagarahalli after he pays the department Rs. 2.05 lakh in all.

According to the officials, the open auction system is being implemented to ensure a transparency in obtaining fancy vehicle registration numbers.