Fancy that! A car No. for Rs 9.6 lakh

TNN, Nov 26, 2010, 03.25am IST

HYDERABAD: The number nine continues to be a prized possession in Andhra Pradesh. Indicating the city's growing affluence, a fancy vehicle registration number got auctioned for a record Rs 9.6 lakh on Thursday at the Khairatabad RTO office.

City-based businessman Krishna Reddy won the bid for the fancy number 'AP 09 CA 9999' for his BMW. Of the Rs 9.6 lakh, the auction amount was Rs 9.1 lakh and the reservation fee Rs 50,000. Reddy's BMW alone costs about Rs 70 lakh while the life tax paid comes to Rs 9 lakh.

According to RTA joint transport commissioner (JTC) B Venkateswarulu, this was the maximum amount paid for a fancy number in the state. Prior to this, the maximum amount paid for a fancy number in an auction was Rs 6.51 lakh. It was won by N Srinivasa Rao of Janmabhoomi Private Homes Limited in September. The number: 'AP 09 BZ 9999'. And the car: Audi, worth Rs 66 lakh.

On Thursday, two other fancy numbers — 'AP 09 CB 9' for a Bentley and 'AP 09 CB 1' for another BMW — were auctioned for Rs 3.24 lakh and Rs 2.7 lakh respectively. Gangavaram Port and S Reddy are the respective owners.

In all, thanks to the wish list of the city's rich for fancy numbers, the Khairatabad RTO office got richer by Rs 21 lakh on Thursday. According to RTO (Central) T L Manik Prabhu: "There is a huge demand for fancy numbers at the Khairatabad RTO office as it is only from here that one can get the AP 09 series."

And if you too fancy a fancy number for your dream machine, all you need to do is check the list of vehicle numbers available for registration at the local RTO everyday by logging on to http://aptransport.org. If the prized number you want is available for registration, it could be yours for a price if you swing by the RTO office with your vehicle documents, address, identity proof and reserve it by paying the fee for the particular series.