HYDERABAD: The craze among car owners for fancy registration numbers has led to RTA coffers brimming this year. Even before the festival season sales kick in, the Telangana States Road Transport Authority has netted Rs 53.9 crore from the auction of these sought-after numbers in the three districts of Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medchal. At this rate, officials predict that by the end of this year RTA will comfortably cruise past its 2022 earnings of Rs 72.7 crore from fancy numbers.The much preferred 9999 and a Bond-style 0001, 0007 and 0009 continue to be the hot picks.This year too some of the highest bids so far have been for 9999. While Khairatabad RTO bagged the highest amount with an owner coughing up a staggering Rs 21.6 lakh for it in August, Kondapur RTO saw the same number go for Rs 12.1 lakh. In Malakpet, an individual paid Rs 9.9 lakh to get 9999.Another high-value number that helped Khairatabad RTO earn a fortune was 0009. The top bid amount for this fancy number was ₹10.5 lakh, sealed in August."Many consider 9 as a lucky number. Since the sum total of 9999 is also 9, it is a big draw among car owners. This number is mostly preferred by industrialists, construction companies, institutions etc.," said a senior RTA official. The RTA made most of its money this year on a single day. "In August, when 9999 went for ₹21.6 lakh, we saw 0009 go for ₹10.5 lakh and 0001 being taken for ₹3.01 lakh. On that day alone, we had a cumulative earning of ₹53.3 lakh," said a senior official of Khairatabad RTO.In fact, officials said that many are now bidding for even random numbers, though their values are much lower than those with a 9. "We have people bidding for numbers such as 0269, 1223 etc., because it is their parents or childs birthday. These bids are at times as low as ₹1,000 to ₹2,000 and often has only one person bidding for them. All these smaller bids for two-wheelers and non-luxury cars also add to the revenue," added the senior official of Khairatabad RTO.

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