Fancy vehicle numbers fetch Rs6 crore for transport department

Patna: The growing demand for fancy VIP vehicle registration numbers has generated approximately Rs6 crore for the state transport department by issuing 4,117 such numbers over the past two months, from Dec 1 to Feb 13.

State transport minister Shrawan Kumar said on Saturday that Patna has led the trend in e-auctions of fancy and custom registration numbers, followed by Muzaffarpur and Gaya. Residents of Patna spent Rs2.46 crore on fancy numbers, while Khagaria and Sheohar showed comparatively less interest, with spending of Rs93,500 and Rs52,000 respectively.


Kumar said vehicle owners acquired their preferred registration numbers through e-auctions from Dec. 1, generating total revenue of Rs5.95 crore for the department. He added that an online booking system has been introduced to facilitate the process of obtaining fancy registration numbers.

According to department officials, VIP numbers are categorised as A, B, C, D and E. Most vehicle owners prefer numbers such as 0001, 0003, 0005, 0007 and 0009. These fall under the A category and are priced at Rs1 lakh. For commercial vehicles, the cost is Rs35,000.

In cases where there are multiple applicants for a particular registration number, the number is allotted to the highest bidder through the e-auction process.

After Patna, Muzaffarpur district recorded the second-highest revenue of Rs52.17 lakh from e-auctions. Gaya ranked third with Rs41 lakh, while residents of Purnia bid a total of Rs33.53 lakh during the same period.