IANS/Mohali

When an agriculturist-transporter forked out Rs525,000 for a 0001 registration plate for his Mercedes Benz in Mohali, it raised quite a few eyebrows.

“I was always attracted towards 0001 as my car’s registration number. If I can spend lakhs of rupees on buying a car what is the harm in spending on a VIP number? I see it as a matter of pride while I drive around on city roads in my newly bought car with a VIP number,” 35-year-old Ramesh Jhajj said of his PB-65-U-0001 registration plate.

The bidding started at Rs.50,000 and Jhajj, an agriculturist who also runs a flourishing transport company, stayed ahead of the pack all the way to the end.

However, this is not the first time the Jhajj family has bought a fancy number.

“My father, who is an agriculturist, also has a liking for 0001. His vehicle also has the same number. Gradually I also developed the same fascination and even my mobile number ends with 0001,” Jhajj said.

The other numbers picked up during the auction included 0097 (Rs150,000) and 0009 and 9999 (both for Rs145,000).

“This trend of spending money to buy VIP numbers has picked up only in the last one year; earlier there were not many bidders. However, now we have nearly a dozen bidders for all registration numbers in Mohali. This is a voice bidding process and it is conducted in an open room in front of various officials to ensure transparency,” said a senior official of Mohali district registration and licensing authority.

This is not the first time that the 0001 number has been sold at a whopping price in Mohali. It went for Rs950,000 in the PB-65-Q series, for Rs470,000 in the PB-65-R series and for Rs400,000 in the PB-65-S series.

“In Punjab only a car’s make does not matter, but its VIP registration number has also become the style quotient. I also wanted to grab a 0001 number and participated in the bidding process till the Rs400,000 mark and then withdrew. But I have managed to get 0011,” said Mohinder Sandhu, an agriculturist and a resident of Mohali.

Punjab’s Mohali town is some 10km from the state capital Chandigarh, where the 0001 number fetches some Rs700,000 to Rs1,000,000 at auctions.

Mohali has a population of 150,000 against Chandigarh’s 1mn.

 

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