Rs 1.8 lakh for fancy number

Dec. 2: The craze for using fancy mobile numbers has touched a new peak in the city with a person buying a vanity number for Rs 1.8 lakh.
This happened in the auction of hundreds of fancy numbers conducted by BSNL-Chennai Telephones for its customers on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A BSNL-Chennai telephones spokesperson told this newspaper on Wednesday that about 240 persons took part in the auction conducted through SMS.

The spokesperson said that one person had paid Rs 1.8 lakh for the fancy number ‘9445555555.’ “This is the highest ever amount paid for a vanity number,” he said.
Others quoted thousands of rupees for various fancy numbers and the total amount collected through auction stood at Rs 8 lakh.

“Customers can browse through the list of vanity numbers in BSNL’s website www.chennai.bsnl.co.in and apply for bidding,” the spokesperson added. Each bidder has to get registered for auction by sending an SMS to 53344, for which Rs 50 per vanity number would be levied.

For pre-paid subscribers, these registration charges shall be deducted online from the available talk value. Post-paid bidders will find this amount in the monthly bill.