Mumbai RTOs earn 6 crores from sale of VIP numbers, far less than Pune, Thane

Mumbai’s four Regional Transport Offices combined earned approximately Rs 6 crores in the last eight months from the sale of VIP numbers, far less than the RTOs in other Maharashtra cities like Pune and Nashik.

According to a TOI report, the Tardeo, Andheri, Borivali and Wadala RTOs raked in Rs 6.08 crores from the sale of 6,652 VIP numbers in the last eight months.

Overall in Maharashtra, over one lakh citizens purchased VIP numbers for their vehicles in the same period, resulting in a revenue of approximately Rs 77 crores.

Mumbai’s RTOs reportedly earn about Rs 12 to 14 crore revenue in a year from the sale of special numbers.

The most sought-after number – 1 – can fetch around Rs 12 lakh if it is not available in the ongoing series and is purchased from a future series. The number can fetch around Rs 1.5 lakh in case of two-wheelers.

Incidentally, despite being the country’s financial capital, Mumbai earns earns far less from the sale of VIP numbers compared to other cities in Maharashtra. According to the latest statics, Pune has earned the maximum from their sale this year.

Pune RTO sold 30,366 numbers, fetching a revenue of Rs 23.45 crore. It was followed by Nashik RTO which sold 27,545 VIP numbers to citizens at a cost of Rs 19.59 crore.

Thane and Kolhapur came third and fourth with the sale of 10,744 numbers earning Rs 9.98 crores and 10,611 numbers fetching Rs 7.3 crore respectively.

While every state earns a sizeable revenue from the sale of VIP numbers, the trend is believed to have started in northern states where such numbers still fetch exorbitant sums.

In the last few years, the registration number ‘0001’ has been sold by Delhi and Chandigarh RTOs for Rs 16 and 17 lakhs respectively.