The trend of spending huge amounts of money to get a preferred license plate number is gaining momentum among vehicle owners. The highest bid for license plate number 9 in the recently held auction by the Regional Transport Office (RTO) was made by a man who spent Rs 4,11,000 to secure it.

Before launching a new series of registration numbers, the RTO usually sells attractive numbers through a bidding process. The price of these numbers ranges between Rs 15,000 to Rs 4,00,000. In cases where multiple applicants compete for the same number, a bidding process determines the winner. The license plate number 9 fetched the highest bid of Rs 2,61,000 in the recent auction held at Pune RTO. The successful bidder paid an additional Rs 1,50,000, resulting in a total of Rs 4,11,000 for license plate 9.

License plate number 1 was acquired for Rs 4,00,000 as only one application was received, eliminating the need for bidding. Another number, 9999, was sold for Rs 70,000, which was Rs 2,20,000 with additional charges. Officials said 0007 was sold for Rs 1,77,000, while 0005 fetched Rs 2,01,000.