Rs 12-lakh ‘VIP number’ for Rs 45K Vespa

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One can buy a brand-new SUV for Rs 12 lakhs, but that’s not the way everyone thinks, at least in Punjab, where everything considered 'VIP' — a vehicle registration or a mobile number — comes at a premium.

Farmer Ricky Brar from Muktsar district has just shelled out Rs 12 lakhs to get a vehicle registration number of his choice (PB-30-J- 0003). And the vehicle? A LML Vespa scooter, bought secondhand from a government employee for just Rs 45,000.

Ricky bid successfully for the 'premium' number at a transport authority auction. The second-highest bidder, who was willing to pay Rs 10 lakhs, has a brand new Mercedes.

Ricky, who already has a Mahindra Scorpio, also with a 'VIP' number (PB- 31-0007), wanted a scooter for day-to-day use. Since there was a one-month waiting period for a new scooter, he readily bought a secondhand one. Ricky does not think it’s preposterous to pay such a huge sum for a scooter licence plate.

“I can always have this number transferred to a car if I buy another one,” he said.

In the same auction, the number 0001 of the series went for Rs 3.91 lakhs, 0002 for Rs 1.11 lakh and 0009 for Rs 1.12 lakh. Such is the craze for single-digit numbers in Punjab, which are considered 'VIP numbers', that the state government auctions them to earn a lot of revenue.

The craze for 'VIP numbers' is evident from last year’s case of a man from Ludhiana who paid Rs 15 lakhs for a mobile number of his choice.