E-auction: ‘0001’ fetches whopping Rs 18.73 lakh

The craze for getting fancy numbers for luxury vehicles by paying huge prices refuses to die down among local residents. During the recent online auction of the fancy numbers by the Transport Department, Punjab, the number Punjab-10 KD 0001 has gone with an exorbitant amount of Rs 18.73 lakh to a resident in Ludhiana.

This is one of the highest amounts paid for 0001 number till date in Ludhiana. The government had kept the reserved price of Rs 1 lakh for the number and about 11 persons wanted to get the same through the online auction. At last, it was given to the person who agreed to an amount of 18.73 lakh for the fancy number.

Besides, many other fancy numbers were also auctioned by the department and a huge amount was collected. Number 0005 was sold for Rs 5.65 lakh while 0007 went for Rs 5.53 lakh. Similarly, 0555 for Rs 2.30 lakh, 0006 for Rs 2 lakh, 0025 for Rs 1.69 lakh, 1313 for Rs 1.15 lakh and 1111 for Rs 1.01 lakh.

The RTO, Kuldeep Bawa, said the auctions were held across the state through online mode, every week. One of the residents, wishing not to be quoted, said around seven years ago, he had got 0001 number for over Rs 5 lakh.

“That time, Rs 5 lakh was a huge sum but today, 0001 number has gone for around Rs 19 lakh, which shows that the craze for getting fancy numbers for luxury vehicles is still the same among people,” the resident added.