Odd-even rule: To select your new car number, gear up to shell out Rs 20,000 at e-auction

New Delhi: Car owners looking to purchase an additional vehicle to get around the Delhi government’s odd-even rule will have to pay at least Rs 20,000 to pick a specific number. With the state recently joining the Vahan initiative, dealers no longer have a list of numbers that buyers can choose from. Instead they will need to participate in an e-auction if they want a specific number.

“Earlier, we used to allot numbers to dealers depending on the advance road tax paid by them. However, it is not the case any more as numbers are allotted randomly,” said a senior official at Regional Transport Office (RTO) . Consumers can bid for numbers they want through e-auctions, starting at around Rs 20,000. For VIP numbers such as 0001, the minimum reserve price goes up to Rs5 lakh. Non-VIP numbers are auctioned every week and fancy numbers every month, the official said.

Vahan is a central government initiative to computerise vehicle registration and some states have already implemented it. The industry is waiting to see the impact of the odd-even rule.