Fancy numbers to flaunt big price tags

CHENNAI: Wanna a fancy number for your new vehicle instead of the randomly allotted four-digit number? You can, provided you are ready to pay more. With an increase in demand for fancy registration numbers, the transport department has proposed to double the fancy number booking fees.

Now, vehicle owners pay anywhere between Rs 2,000 and Rs 2 lakh to get fancy numbers. As per the draft amendment to the TN Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, the Home department has proposed to hike the fees between Rs 2,000 and Rs 8 lakh to reserve fancy numbers.

According to a Transport official, some vehicle owners are crazy about numbers linked to their date of birth, astrologically significant, auspicious or numerologically significant.

If one wants a particular number or fancy number and if that falls within 1,000 numbers from the current series or the last registered number, the owner can apply to the RTO concerned.

“For imported cars and other vehicles, the allotment of fancy numbers through the registration authority would cost between Rs 20,000 and Rs 80,000,” the official said.

According to the official, there are about 100 vehicle numbers from the range of 0001 to 9999 reserved as special numbers by the government. “These numbers cannot be obtained through the RTO as they can be obtained paying special fees ranging between Rs 80,000 and Rs 8 lakh,” the official said.

“Among the state government reserved numbers, 9999 is the most sought after because many believe it is numerologically significant,” the official said, adding AIADMK founder MGR had owned cars with the number 4777 marking the date July 4, 1977, when he was sworn in. “Many of his fans want 4777,” the official added.