SIM renewal wins him a supercar!
dubai — An Indian carpenter, based in Ras Al Khaimah, drove home with a luxury supercar by just renewing the registration of his du mobile phone number. Balvir Singh later sold his 570S Spider for Dh625,000.
dubai — Indian carpenter Balvir Singh can vouch for one thing now. It pays to be a good, lawabiding resident.
Singh re-registered his du mobile number and that has won him a luxury supercar McLaren 570S Spider worth over Dh750,000.
In line with the UAE Registration Policy, du from Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) invited customers with expired ID registrations to renew the registration of their numbers before January 31 to avoid their services being cut-off.
All customers who renewed the ID registration before that period entered the draw to win the luxury car.
Hailing from a small town in the state of Punjab, India, Singh who has been working in the UAE as a carpenter for the last 10 years, said he and his friends would always fill up lucky draw coupons at grocery stores or online just to win ‘big’ but it never happened until one lucky Monday.
An extremely religious man, Singh said Mondays have proven very lucky for him: “Mondays are very special for me and some of the best things of my life happened on this day including my eldest son. On January 14 ( Monday) I got a message from du telecom saying
I had never even heard of that car until this day and that’s when I checked online to see how it even looks.”
Balvir Singh, winner
that I had successfully registered for the lucky draw and On February 11 (Monday) I got a call that I had won the draw. However, I thought it was a fake call and my friends said the same. But when I got a message asking to visit du office, I checked online and realised that the address is correct.”
Singh visited the nearest du store and that’s when the news hit him. “I had never even heard of that car until this day and that’s when I checked online to see how it even looks.”
Earning a salary of Dh2,200, Singh describes himself as a simple man who wants to do good and help others. “I have lived a life of penury and seen very tough times but that never discouraged me. I’ve put my faith in God and believe in working hard and God has never disappointed me. “
Singh, who has never driven a car in his life and never ever had a licence, said: “I would only ride a bicycle as I would find bikes and cars too complicated. But I bought a scooty for my wife back home as she has to take care of the house and my two sons — five-year-old and seven-month-old.”
Singh sold the car for Dh625,000 and invested some of it as he intends to start a company some day and the rest of the money he sent back home.
Singh is heading back to his family for three or four months to enjoy some quality family time and also hopes to bring them to Dubai on tourist visa soon. He told Khaleej Times that he doesn’t intend to quit his work here.
“I have earned my livelihood from this job here in the UAE and intend to do so until my own company takes off. Once that happens, I will set some part of my profit for the needy.”
Representing du, Fahad Al Hassawi, Deputy CEO – Telco, EITC, said: “At du, we strive to spread happiness and joy amongst our customers. And, this is a testament to what we are trying to achieve. We congratulate Balvir on winning this prize and encourage our customers to partake in our upcoming competitions.”