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This story is from June 29, 2006
Choice number plates make Kolhapur RTO richer
If you see a car with '4000' on its number plate here, make no mistake, it belongs to a member of the erstwhile royal family.
A '7474' Mercedes would mean that mover-shaker politician Mahadevrao Mahadik's car has just passed by. And, as everyone knows, Congress district president P.N. Patil, MLA, fancies a '9292' number on all his cars, including his Skoda.
Kolhapur's love for gleaming,well-maintained vehicles is legendary, and now a rising fad for personalised registration numbers has generated a whopping Rs 3.69 crore for the Kolhapur RTO (regional transport office) ever since the scheme was introduced seven years ago.
From the erstwhile royal family of Kolhapur to the commoner, an increasing number of car and bike owners are opting for personalised number plates.
While numerology or 'good luck' are cited as the most common reason for this, the descendants of Shahu Maharaj say that the digits '4000' makes it "easier for the general public and government officers to recognise our vehicles".
Says Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje: "When I was in college I had a Kinetic bike with the number '4000'. Since then (14 years ago), we have been using this number for our vehicles."
Deputy regional transport officer D.T. Pawar told TOI that number 9 and digits adding up to this numerologically-powerful number, is the most popular among those seeking personalised number plates in Kolhapur.
"Many people consult numerologists or astrologers for their vehicle's number. " In the case of two-wheelers, the RTO charges Rs 2,000 for numbers from a different series and Rs 5,000 for specific digits.
In the case of four-wheelers, these rates are Rs 4,000 and Rs 10,000 respectively. The RTO's revenues have been rising since the introduction of the 'special number plates' scheme in 1999, which was availed of by a total of 6,900 people.
From Rs 34.90 lakh in 1999-2000, it has risen to Rs 74.99 lakh, totalling Rs 3.69 crore as of March 31, 2006. The RTO is confident that this rising trend will continue this year too as in just two months of this fiscal year, April and May, the RTO has been made richer by Rs 14.62 lakh from this scheme.
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