Fancy numbers keep cash registers ringing at RTO

KOCHI: The willingness of Kochiites to pay huge amounts to acquire fancy numbers for their vehicles is becoming a major source of revenue for the Ernakulam Regional Transport Office. In the first five months this year, registration of fancy numbers has fetched the department about Rs 69.57 lakh.It is more than half the total amount of Rs 110.89 lakh collected last year.Officials in the department said it was only in the last couple of years that such an increase in revenue was noticed. "One of the reasons for this trend is that most vehicle owners consider it a status symbol. It make their vehicles stand apart in the crowd. There are some applicants who choose fancy numbers as they believe in numerology," said an official in-charge of fancy number registration. Regional Transport Officer (RTO) T J Thomas said the revenue collected from this had been going up over the last four years. "In 2009, the department earned Rs 71.07 lakh; the figure went up to Rs 1.10 crore in 2011. In the last five months, we have collected Rs 69.57 lakh from fancy number registration alone, and expect the figure to go above Rs 1.50 crore by year end," he said.Thomas also said the increase in revenue was being noticed after making the rules to register fancy numbers stricter. "Earlier, there were many mediators, including vehicle dealers and agents, who used to register fancy numbers in advance. From 2010, we changed the rule, and now for someone to get a fancy number, he has to come in person and register paying the registration amount," Thomas said."If there is more than one contestant for a number, it will be allotted to the highest bidder in the auction," he added.The most sought after numbers are the ones like 1, 9, 7, 77, 555 and 7777.Officials also said that along with these numbers, people also demand sequences like 1234, 7117 or 7171. To get the digit '1' as vehicle registration number, a vehicle owner will have to shell out a minimum of Rs 1 lakh, and for numbers like 777 and 7777, one has to spend a minimum of Rs 50,000.