Maharashtra transport department proposes fee hike for vehicle VIP numbers

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The Maharashtra transport department has issued a draft notification to hike fees for VIP numbers for new vehicles, an official said on Friday.

The draft notification also provides for the transfer of a VIP number to immediate kin, namely spouse, son and daughter. The transfer of VIP numbers is not allowed at present, the official added.

As per the draft notification, the number '0001' will have a proposed fee of Rs 5 lakh, up from Rs 3 lakh now for four-wheelers, while it will be Rs 1 lakh for two and three-wheelers instead of the present Rs 50,000, he said.

Besides this, the 'three time basic fees' will be Rs 15 lakh for four or more wheeled vehicles and Rs 3 lakh for two and three wheeled vehicles 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, he added.

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 instead of existing 4 lakh for four and more wheeled vehicles.

Hence, an out of series VIP number will cost Rs 18 lakh, which incidentally is the cost of several new cars in the mid-segment.

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Earlier this year, Reliance Industries (RIL), headed by Mukesh Ambani, bought an ultra-luxury Rolls Royce hatchback costing Rs13.14 crore. The firm paid Rs 12 lakh for a VIP number after opting for it "out of series".

"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," he said.

"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 50000 instead of existing Rs 20000. 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 25000, up from Rs 15000, for two and three wheelers," he said.

For another set of 49 sought after numbers, the proposed fee for four and more wheeled vehicles will be Rs 70,000 instead of Rs 50,000 and Rs 15,000, up from Rs 10,000 presently, for two and three wheelers.

"For another set of 189 registration numbers, like 0011, 0022, 0088, 0200, 0202, 4242, 5656 and 7374, the proposed fees is Rs 25,000 instead of existing Rs 15000 for four or more wheeled vehicles and Rs 6,000 instead of existing Rs 4000 for two and more wheeler vehicles," he said.

In a relief to people, a vehicle for which a number has been reserved needs to be produced before the authorities in six months, an extension from the 30 days allowed now, the official said.

"Moreover, there is no provision for reserving any VIP number for a government vehicle. But the draft notification lays down that the state government, through a general or special order, exempt from payment of fees for the registration mark, after which the number can be allotted to the state government from any existing series," he informed.

Citizens can submit suggestions and objections to the proposed fee structure by October 14, the regional transport official informed.

The revision in VIP numbers fees will bring more revenue to the state transport department, which as the its statistics book 2017-18 had earned Rs 139.20 crore from 1,83,794 cases of registration number issuance for that financial year.

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