Srinagar, June 20: A local resident of Kashmir today paid a whopping Rs fifty thousand for a vanity number, JK01S-0011, for his vehicle.
  Sources in the Regional Transport Office Kashmir said that a person (name withheld) outbid another three bidders and paid Rs fifty one thousand for the number during the bidding process.   The man got the registration number of the new series for his brand new Scorpio.
  “This is one of the highest bids for a registration number in J&K state till date and previous record is that of a person who paid 1.55 Lakh to get the desired registration number of 0001,” said an official.  According to officials, the other previous highest bid in the state was Rs 1 Lakh which was paid by a woman, Sunita Sharma of Gandhi Nagar, Jammu. She paid the amount for registration number “JK02AP-0001.”  However, the previous highest bid for a vanity number in Valley was Rs 70,000.
 In 2009, a Jammu-based businessman had paid Rs 85, 000 for the number, JK02 AK-47.  Officials at RTO said the vanity and VIP numbers these days are in much demand and people are ready to pay big money for these. “Such interest in the vanity numbers is unprecedented. Earlier only rich would pay for these numbers, but now middle class people also show greater interest in getting these numbers,” they said.
 The vehicle owners usually pay Rs 2000 to 3000 more for numbers like ‘1111’ or ‘2222’, but these days bidding for these numbers is also high.
 “But it is wrong that people are spending so much on money on just getting the numbers, it send wrong signal and people should not follow this trend, “ said the official of the department.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 20 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 20 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 21 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST