The Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO) collected ₹44.9 crore from selling fancy number plates for vehicles in the FY 2023-24. The revenue collection from the sale of fancy registration numbers recorded a 39 per cent growth as the RTO had ₹35.92 crore in FY 2022-23.
In FY 2023-24, the revenue collected from the auction of registration numbers was ₹4.92 crore compared to ₹2.26 crore in FY 2022-23. The top bid was ₹12 lakh for the number '1' selected from a series other than the LMV (light motor vehicle) series, while the usual price for a number from LMV series was ₹4 lakh. But since '1' was already taken, the buyer had to pay triple the amount for a number from a different series.
Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Deputy Regional Transport Officer Sanjeev Bhor, said, " A significant increase in revenue from the auction of fancy vehicle numbers, helped in reaching nearly ₹50 crore in FY 2022-23 compared to ₹38.19 crore the previous year. This includes proceeds from the sale of sought-after registration numbers and high-demand number plates."
"Many people believe in numerology and many want to stay with the same vehicle number as their old vehicle number. Hence, the demand for fancy numbers has been increasing every year," he added.
The most demanded numbers in Pune city are: 1, 9, 90, 909, 999, 9990, 9999, 7, 777, 7007, 7777, 12, 1212, 4141, 2121, 7272, 5555, 4444, 96, 100, 500, 505, 1001, 1111, 3003, 5050, and 5151.
