THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With a new series of registration numbers all set to begin in the state capital, many, including NRK businessman M.A. Yusuff Ali, are in the fray for fancy numbers. Within a day of the opening of the booking for the new series starting with 'CA' (KL-01-CA), over 60 numbers were booked. There will be auction for about 20 numbers for which more than one person have booked. Many chartered accountants are also learnt to be in the fray as 'CA' is the short-form of chartered accountant.
Mr Yusuff Ali has reserved five numbers , including CA-1, CA-3, CA-5, CA-7 and CA-9. Of this, no one has yet booked CA-1, whereas other numbers have been booked by others also. It is learnt that the number is being reserved for his new BMW worth about Rs 1.75 crore. Sources at the Thiruvananthapuram Regional Transport Office said that over the last couple of months there had been many enquiries on when the new series would begin. There was also a decline in the number of vehicle registrations over the past few weeks as many were taking temporary registration till the new series begins.
Every week, about 2,500 numbers would be opened for booking and auction would be done in case more than one person book a number. A person can reserve any number of numbers. While the minimum booking fee for an ordinary number is Rs 3,000, there are a set of notified numbers for which the booking fees is in the range of Rs 5,000 to Rs 1 lakh. No. 1 fetches the highest booking value of Rs 1 lakh. Auction would be held on every Monday. Over these years the state capital had witnessed heavy auctions, the latest being KL-01-BY-1 which fetched Rs 8.5 lakh.
