Paonta Sahib: Man bids Rs 60 lakh for No. 0001, then opts out

Pankaj Sharma

Nahan, July 4

The online auction for the fancy vehicle registration number ‘HP17H-0001’ in Paonta Sahib that saw intense bidding and drove the price to an astounding Rs 60 lakh has turned out to be a damp squib. The individual, who had made the highest bid of Rs 60 lakh, failed to deposit the amount and had to forfeit Rs 1.56 lakh security deposit.

As the top bidder failed to deposit the amount by 5 pm on July 3, the number will be put up for the auction again.

Paonta Sahib Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) and Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA) Gunjit Singh Cheema stated that the other two bidders will have their security amounts refunded, though the Rs 2,000 application fee will not be returned.

He explained that in the online tender software for the fancy vehicle registration numbers, the details of the successful bidder were made public only after the money was deposited in government account. Since the highest bidder did not pay Rs 60 lakh, the personal details were not visible on the dashboard.

The auction, however, added Rs 1.56 lakh to the government’s treasury. It shed the light on the practice of placing a high bid by the top bidder to oust the competitors with an intention to prevent them from getting the fancy number.

To combat fraudulent bidding and bolster the state treasury, the government has mandated that the reserve price must be deposited in advance before the auction. The measure aims to deter non-serious bidders.