Delhi puts on e-auction new fancy number plates

Delhiites can now make payments online for the fancy numbers of their vehicle as the Transport Department has decided to do away with the existing system of depositing a draft after completion of the e-auction process. After the e-auction of a fancy number is over, allotment letter would be sent to the applicant's email-id, an official said. At present, those wanting a fancy number for his car has to apply through an e-auction system, which was introduced in 2014.Once the process is complete, he or she was required to deposit the fee for the alloted number through a draft at Regional Transport Offices (RTO), and in the process had to make rounds of the department. "The move is intended to bring a transparency in issuing fancy numbers. As per the new system, an applicant can now make payments for fancy numbers online through the transport department's website."The practice will reduce human interface at the RTOs," a senior government official said.In January last year, e-auction of fancy registration numbers for vehicles had fetched the Delhi government around Rs 50 lakh while the registration number "0001" was sold for Rs 7.70 lakh.The registration number 0001, with a minimum reserved price fixed at Rs 5 lakh, is sold through e-auction. Numbers from 0002 to 0009 are the second most expensive, starting at Rs 3 lakh. The third category include the numbers from 0010 to 0099, 0786, 1000, 1111, 7777 and 999, for which bids start at Rs 2 lakh.PTI