Car number plate W22 sold for Dh2.62m at Dubai auction

Dubai: Double digit numbers W22 and T32 went for a combined price of Dh4.3 million at the Roads and Transport Authority’s 98th number plates auction on Saturday.

Among the 80 special number plates up for grabs W22 attracted the highest bid of Dh2.62 million, followed by T32, which for Dh1.68 million.

Apart from the two double digit numbers, attractive three, four and five digit plates were also on offer.

The next best was five digit number T88888 which went for Dh710,000.

Another five digit number R66666 was sold for Dh670,000.

The first to break the Dh500,000 barrier was three digit number T400.

“We are happy to have completed another successful auction and we are satisfied with the results. We are looking forward to offering more interesting plates for the next auction,” said Abdullah Yousuf Al Ali, CEO of RTA’s Licensing Agency.

More than 500 people participated in the popular auction that saw a total collection of 19,918,000.

A participant, Mohammad Hasan, who was participating for the first time said: “It was an interesting show. I came to see how it works. This my first time to participate so didn’t bid for any plates, I just came to learn. Next time I going to buy an attractive plate.”

Most of the participants are traders or agents who grab the number plates at the auction and sell them online.

“I have been participating at the RTA auction since the beginning. I work for a businessman who sells the plates online. There is a good demand for interesting numbers,” said Ahmed Reda, another participant.

Participation in the auction requires the bidder to have a traffic file in Dubai.

All participants are required to deposit a cheque of Dh25,000 which can be redeemed in case no successful bid is made. The deposit can also be paid by credit cards.

An amount of Dh120 has to be paid as subscription fees, while five per cent will also be added to bidding amount.