Over 40,000 plates have been registered since Hong Kong's customised vehicle plate system began in 2006. There have been over 160 auctions.
At an auction in Hong Kong on Sunday, a custom licence plate fetched HK$25.5 million (Rs 27 crore), the second-highest offer in a city known for its eccentric and sometimes baffling vehicle licence plates.
This offer for a "R" licence plate was placed on Sunday at a Lunar New Year auction held by the Hong Kong Transport Department, according to Bloomberg. According to the rankings given by the Secretary for Transport Lam Sai-hung, the 2021 "W" proposal came in at slightly under HK$26 million.
Since the personalised car plate system was implemented in 2006, Lam claims that over HK$600 million has been collected through over 160 auctions and the registration of over 40,000 plates.
It is possible to apply for a certain licence plate, beginning a procedure that may take up to 18 months before the plate is put up for auction. Applicants must submit a HK$5,000 deposit, and the plate is theirs for only that sum if no other bids come forward to claim it.
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While it's tempting to assume that this Rs 27 crore single-letter number plate would be the most expensive in the world, it turns out that it's not even close.
A selection of the world's most costly licence plates is shown below.
- 'MM' - Rs 188 crore
- 'F1' - Rs 154 crore
- 'New York' - Rs 154 crore
- 'D5'- Rs 74 crore
- 'AA8' - Rs 72 crore
- '1' Rs 73 crore
- '09' - Rs 51 crore
- '7'- Rs 30 crore
In India
At an auction held by the Chandigarh Registration and Licensing Authority, 378 classy registration numbers were sold for Rs 1.5 crore; advertising agency owner Brij Mohan paid Rs 15.44 lakh for the number "CH01-CJ-0001," which had an opening bid of Rs 500,000.
Mr. Brij Mohan purchased this licence plate to his new vehicle which he purchased during the Diwali season 2022.
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