Want fancy numbers for your vehicle? Be ready to pay more

People seeking to get special registration numbers (also known as fancy or VIP numbers) for their vehicles will have to shell out more in future. The Maharashtra transport department has issued a draft notification to hike fees for VIP numbers for new vehicles, an official said on Friday.

As per the draft notification, the number '0001' will have a proposed fee of Rs 5 lakh, up from Rs 3 lakh now for fourwheelers, while it will be Rs 1 lakh for two and three-wheelers instead of the present Rs 50,000. Besides this, the 'three time basic fees' will be Rs 15 lakh for four or more wheelers and Rs 3 lakh for two and three wheelers if the '0001' registration number is unavailable in an ongoing series for that particular type of vehicle and it needs to be given from another series as per the rules.

Significantly as per the draft notification, in Mumbai, Mumbai suburban, Pune, Thane, Raigad, Aurangabad, Nashik, Kolhapur and Nashik, where the demand for 0001 is high, the proposed fees is Rs 6 lakh for four and more wheeled vehicles.

Earlier this year, Reliance Industries (RIL), headed by Mukesh Ambani, bought an ultra-luxury Rolls Royce hatchback costing Rs 13.14 crore.

"In Maharashtra 240 different numbers are identified as VIP numbers in every registration series. The existing fee structure for these numbers has been effective from May 22, 2012. The numbers 0009, 0099, 0999, 9999 and 0786 are the most sought after apart from 0001," said an official of the state transport department.

"For these five numbers, the proposed fee in the notification is Rs 2.5 lakh, up from Rs 1.5 lakh, for four and more wheeled vehicles. The proposed fee for two and three wheeled vehicles is Rs 50,000 instead of existing Rs 20,000. The fee for another 16 sought after numbers is proposed at Rs 1 lakh instead of Rs 70,000 for four and more wheeled vehicles and Rs 25,000, up from Rs 15,000, for two and three wheelers," added the official.