Soon, two-wheeler owners in Delhi can opt for fancy vehicle number

After a wait of four years, two-wheelers will finally be eligible for fancy number plates in Delhi and those wanting to retain their old number for a new vehicle will be able to do so, and that too, from their homes.

The Delhi government Thursday notified the amendments to the Delhi Motor Vehicles Rules, 1993, which has made two-wheelers eligible for fancy numberplates through e-auction. The minimum price for the golden number ‘0001’ has been set at ₹50,000, while bidding for numbers from 0002 to 0009 will begin from ₹30,000. For four-wheelers, number 0001, has a minimum reserved price of ₹5 lakh, while numbers from 0002 to 0009 start at ₹3 lakh.

Gauging the high demand for numbers like 0786, 1111, 9999, 7777 and 1000, the transport department has set a base price of ₹20,000 for two-wheelers. Another category of numbers like 0100, 2222, 8888, 6666 and so on will be sold forRs 15,000.

Transport minister Kailash Gahlot said until Thursday’s notification, there were no rules under which two-wheelers could be included in the fancy numberplate scheme. VIP numbers from 0001 to 0100 were so far available only for four-wheelers. This is despite the fact that two-wheelers are more than double (over 73 lakh) in number in Delhi as compared to cars (around 35 lakh).

“The transport department was missing out on a lot of revenue as the demand for fancy numbers for two-wheelers was huge in Delhi. This is another step towards making the process of getting registration numbers for vehicles transparent and hassle-free,” Gahlot said.

On-the-spot semi-fancy numbers

As per the amendment, semi-fancy numbers for four-wheelers will costRs 25,000 andRs 2,500 for two-wheelers. “These numbers are not premium ones. They are the ones people often pick on their own, mostly owing to astrology or numerology. It requires jumping from the chronological order of numbers from a series of registration marks,” a transport official said.

While the provision was completely absent for two-wheelers, those with four-wheelers had to wait for a week to get a semi-fancy number after which the formalities used to take almost another week. “Many skipped this category and went ahead with regular numbers as they couldn’t wait for so long without being able to use their new cars despite making all payments. So, we changed to an on-the-spot ‘first come, first serve’ system,” a transport official said.

Retention of old number

In a first, the notification will also allow new vehicle owners to retain the number of their old vehicles for which a separate online portal is being created.

It will allow four-wheeler owners to retain their old number on a fee which would be 10% of the minimum reserve price of the category of number to be retained or ₹25,000, whichever is higher. For two-wheelers, it will be 10% or ₹2,500.

At present, retention of old numbers happens on a very small scale as people are largely unaware about it, officials said. “It is also completely left to the discretion of the licensing officer with no prescribed fee for it,” they said.