THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A pharmacy owner in Thiruvananthapuram paid a record auction price of Rs 18 lakh for a fancy vehicle registration number, on Monday.
In an auction held here on Monday, KS Balagopal, a native of Thiruvananthapuram clinched the number 'KL 01 CB 1' for his Toyota Land Cruiser (worth over Rs one crore) for the record amount.
Apart from Balagopal, owners of three luxury cars and a bike participated in the bidding with a base price of Rs 1 lakh. The procedure was supervised by deputy transport commissioner (south Zone), CK Ashokan, two assistant transport commissioners Padmakumar and PM Shaji, and Thiruvananthapuram RTO B Muralikrishnan. The auction was video recorded to rule out malpractice.
On Monday, the RTO had put up as many as 27 fancy numbers for auction, which received 210 applications. For the ‘CB’ series alone, 67 applicants had turned up, said sources.