Craze for Fancy Vehicle Numbers, a Boon for RTO to Earn in Crores

Craze for Fancy Vehicle Numbers, a Boon for RTO to Earn in Crores

Mangaluru: For many vehicle owners in the City, especially the “Rich and Famous”, having a personalized or fancy vehicle licence plate number is a boon for Transport Department/RTO, earning nearly Rs 2 crores in the last two years according to sources. While a majority vehicle owners chose fancy numbers as they believed in numerology, many others apply for the fancy numbers just for an identity. For some others, it is a status symbol in the society as they are known by the number reflected on the vehicle, it is learnt. But no matter what, the craze for fancy numbers for vehicles – of different types – has been fetching sizable revenue for the State government run Transport department.

In 2015, a businessman in Mumbai paid Rs 36,000 for a number plate starting with MH 47, which had an original price of Rs 5000- there were only two applicants who had bid for number plates that ended with 47. What was more interesting was that the bidding went on till it reached Rs 36,000 for purchasing the number ’47’, the original price for which was Rs 5,000, and this businessman who got his new number plate MH 47 A 47 affixed on his brand new car, said, “It will certainly be an eye-catching number.” Just like this Mumbai businessman, we also have such entrepreneurs in Kudla who are ready to shell out extra bucks to get a fancy number of their choice.

I remember having personalized licence plates on my four cars that I owned during my two decades stay in USA- and they were different from what we have here in Mangaluru. In Chicago in Illinois State-USA, you can pick your own personalized vehicle number plates- you can have your abbreviation of your name/town/ or any of your personal thing. Like the first year in 1990, I applied for a licence plate with letters “LGL INDN 5′ (Legal Indian 5)- and I got it on my Dodge model SUV car. Later in the following years, on my Nissan Altima, Honda Accord, and Nissan Maxima, I had licence plates which read “ALFI 555”; “ALFI 777” and “ALFI 888” ( I skipped 666- fearing it was a devil (Omen) number as said in Bible). Years later, I switched back to regular numbers, because to stay away from identity. When you have these fancy plates, people will recognize, and being nosy will ask questions -“I saw your car at the bar”! I saw your car in the strip joint parking lot! etc etc. Okay, people no more personalized number plates for me – I will keep my identity safe?

Personalized Vehicle Licence Plates in USA 

In India there is usually a craze for special numbers like 786, especially Muslims who opt for this number or 555, or 1111- and people don’t mind spending thousands, and even lakhs, for a VIP number. For example, the number 1 which is available only in few numbers, entrepreneurs are ready to buy it at any price. Like entrepreneur and Chairman of AJ Institutions-Mangaluru, A J Shetty got his fancy number on his new Mercedes S400 as “KA 1 AJ 1”! Many a time Number 1 is hard to get, so one has then to pay thrice the price for another series.

According to the Transport Department official, motorists interested in getting fancy numbers well in advance (at least one series ahead and so on) may have to remit a higher fee for which the number is allotted from the Transport Ministry. Explaining it, he said that in the event of booking a number ahead of the current series, the aspirant has to remit a higher fee for blocking a number well ahead. He also said that one entrepreneur in town who wanted a specific number in every series as the registration for all his vehicles had been a sign of ‘good luck’ and prosperity, had paid nearly three times more to get his required number. However, consultants engaged in the resale of second-hand vehicles in the market said that fancy numbers had a special attraction among the buyers. “The seller demands extra money for the number and the buyer would not mind coughing it up,” said a used car dealer who deals in buying/ selling of two-wheelers and four-wheelers.

As per RTO sources, in the last two years, 797 vehicles got fancy numbers fetching an income of nearly Rs 1.83 crore. In 2015-16, 277 vehicles owners spent Rs 66.6 lakhs on fancy numbers, while 355 spent Rs 78.9 lakhs in the year 2016-17 on fancy vehicle numbers. It is learnt that the number may go up this year as RTO has already collected Rs 37.9 lac from 165 vehicle owners already till September 2017. A fancy number for 2-wheeler will cost Rs 6000 and for four-wheeler Rs 20,000. For a transport vehicle fancy number, the cost will be Rs 30,000. But you never know, if there is a demand and bidding for this fancy numbers, the cost may shoot up to Rs 70,000.

Bharath 30 brand Beedies/Bharath Mall owners and family members have their vehicles always ending with number 30. Also MLA of North Mangaluru Moideen Bawa always prefers numbers ending with 55- and already has two cars with numbers 5555 and 355 (he recently bought a Volvo XC 90 T9 -the first Excellence car in India priced at Rs 1.65 crore)- and the best part is that all his relatives and family members have nearly 25 cars, all having fancy numbers ending with 55. It is also learnt that his family members have mobile phone numbers ending with 5555, and also that while Moideen Bawa was employed in Saudi Arabia, his PO Box number was 955. Guess Bawa consider 55 number as a lucky number.

Another entrepreneur in Town, Ashok Chouta always prefers to have fancy numbers ending with 1. And for that matter, his son, Akshith Chouta who owns a First yellow Lamborghini in Mangaluru has a fancy number with 1. It is learnt that ever since Ashok Chouta had cars since 1982, he always preferred Number 1 on his vehicles, and he got them on nearly 40 vehicles that he has owned so far. Apart from these businessmen, we have our politicians who also look for fancy numbers- and they get it easily through influence or by other means. While entrepreneurs like A J Shetty who prefers number 1, so also others like the Choutas, Congress Youth President Mithun Rai ( KA 03 AF 1); Minister U T Khader has 1 on his licence plate; Entrepreneur Arjun Moras has all his vehicles with numbers ending with 7200, including his Rs 7 crore Aston Martin car; MLC Ivan D’souza prefers numbers 5050, while Yenepoya Moideen Kunhi likes 8855 on all his vehicles. And Suhan Alva, a St Aloysius College student has number 2000 on his new Maruti Suzuki Brezza.

It is learnt that Number 9 symbolizes speed and power while number 1 is representative of the sun and symbolizes authority, according to a numerologist. But recently, the craze for these fancy numbers is not limited to the rich- even scores of middle-class motorists in town are now willing to cough up extra bucks in the hope of turning the wheel of fortune in their favour. Like Praveen who got his number ending with 77 on his car by paying close to Rs 6,000 plus. Neither the added cost nor the hassles of making multiple rounds of the RTO seem to have been a dampener for him.

Inflation, recession, demonetization or the introduction of GST, nothing seems to deter Kudla’s rich but not necessarily famous from winning “auspicious” vehicle number plates at RTO auctions, never mind their exorbitant price tags. The registration of fancy vehicle numbers in the city has steadily increased over the years, with individual bids crossing a jaw-dropping lakhs of rupees in some cases–often more than the price of a Nano car.