Dubai: Car enthusiasts have four days left to bid on coveted fancy number plates at Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority’s (RTA) 70th online auction.
According to RTA, this year’s auction is offering 371 unique number plates of three, four and five digits for cars and motorbikes bearing (A-B-C-G-H-I-K-L-M-N-O-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-Y) codes. The online auction officially began on Monday, February 27, at 8 am on the official RTA website – www.rta.ae.
However, to participate in the auction, you must first sign up online and fulfil certain conditions. Here are all the details.
Three conditions for the special number plate auction
To participate in the auction, you need to fulfil three basic conditions:
1. Each bidder must have a driving licence issued in Dubai or have a car registered in the emirate.
2. Pay a security deposit of Dh5,000
3. Pay a non-refundable participation fee of Dh120.
The payment for the security deposit and participation fee can be done online via the RTA website – www.rta.ae, the ‘Dubai Drive’ app or through the Customer Happiness Centres in:
• Umm Ramool
• Deira
• Al Barsha
How to register for the online auction
The auction for the number plates has already begun, however, you can still sign up for it. Here are the steps below:
1. Visit the RTA website – www.rta.ae and click on ‘login’, which is on the top right corner of the website’s homepage.
2. For the online auction, you must have an online account with RTA or sign in via your UAE Pass. If you are a new user, you can create an account by registering a username, and password and entering your email, phone number and traffic file number.
3. Once you log in, you will be redirected to a personal dashboard. Next, click on the ‘Auction’ category.
4. Then, you will be able to view the live online auction. However, you cannot start bidding just yet, you first need to pay the security deposit and participation fee.
5. Next, click on ‘Security Deposit’ under ‘Plate Number Services’.
Click on the ‘Register’ button.
6. Pay the security deposit with a debit or credit card via the payment channel. Next, pay the participation fee.
Once you have settled the payments and registered successfully, you can now start bidding in the online auction.
How does the online auction take place?
Once you sign in, if you see a number plate you want to buy, you can start the bidding process by clicking on the ‘bid’ button.
According to the RTA website – www.rta.ae, the minimum amount of money that the customer can bid to start participating in the auction is Dh1,000.
If a number plate you have bid for received a higher bid, you will be able to see that on the plate details when you click on it.
If you wish to increase your bid, you will need to keep in mind the minimum increment that has been set for that number plate. So, if your plate has a minimum increment set at Dh100 and the current bid is for Dh2,000, you will need to make your bid at a minimum of Dh2,100.
What happens after the auction ends?
If you won a number plate, you will be notified via an SMS from RTA and must pay the bid amount at any one of RTA's customer service centres in either Umm Ramool, Barsha or Deira, within 10 days.
Once you have paid the amount, you will receive your new plate through courier or collect them at the RTA customer service centre where you made the payment.
If you were unsuccessful in your bid, you can get the security cheque back from the RTA Customer Happiness Centre in Umm Ramool.
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