WITH the increasing craze among VIPs and VVIPs for fancy registration numbers for their vehicles, the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) has hit upon the idea of shifting the auction to cyber space for convenience and also to rake in more moolah.
The RTA anyway was planning to issue all kinds of permits for vehicles through an online process in the near future and curb the role of middlemen. Simultaneously, it wanted to make the number bidding online in order to avoid rush at the office during the auctions, said B Venkateswarlu, Joint Transport Commissioner.
The demand for fancy numbers such as 1, 9, 999 and 9999 can be gauged from the fact that a large number of customers participate in the auctions to secure them by paying a deposit of Rs 50,000 per head.
Tollywood star Junior NTR has recently bid a whopping Rs 4.99 lakh for number 9999 for his newlybought vehicle. Jr NTR has competed with three businessmen in the auction to secure his favourite number.
According to sources, Jr NTR has a strong liking for that number which adorns his old ambassador car, 500 Cubic Capacity (CC) Royal Enfield bullet and his sports bike.
“Every month we put on sale numbers from 1 to 1,000 for four and two-wheelers and there is always a race to bag the fancy numbers, ’ ’ Venkateswarlu said.
Earlier, there was good competition from IT professionals for these special numbers but not anymore.
These days it is the film personalities who are keen on getting the `lucky’ numbers.
Meanwhile, the RTA has decided to crack the whip on those replacing ‘AP’ on their vehicle number plates with TG and other letters.
The traffic police, in fact, have already started booking those violating the rules regarding number display.
Also, the RTA officials launched a special drive against private buses carrying containers and other cargo along with passengers. “Most of the private bus operators on the Hyderabad-Mumbai and Hyderabad- Bangalore routes overload their vehicles with goods and passengers in violation of rules. The RTA officials have booked 3 to 5 cases against such buses in the last two days,’’ Venkateswarlu said
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