Quicksplained: Why ‘HR88B8888’, India’s costliest licence plate, sold for Rs 1.7 crore

A licence plate in India has sold for a record Rs 1.7 crore.

The VIP car registration number, ‘HR88B8888’, was sold at auction today (November 26) afternoon in Haryana. Bidding was held on the state government’s online portal. The development came just a week after the ‘HR22W2222’ licence plate fetched Rs 37.91 lakh at an auction in Haryana.

But what happened? What do we know? Why did it sell for Rs 1.7 crore?

Let’s take a closer look

• The auctions for VIP or fancy number plates occur in Haryana every week.

• The bidding takes place between 1 pm and 5 pm between Fridays at 5 pm and Mondays at 9 am.

• It occurs on the official website fancy.parivahan.gov.in.

• Results of the bid are usually declared at 5 pm on Wednesdays.

• This week, the licence plate ‘HR88B8888’ proved a hit with bidders.

• In all, there were 45 bids for this licence plate, the most of all the available vehicle numbers.

• The auction for ‘HR88B8888’ began at a base price of Rs 50,000.

• The figure touched Rs 88 lakh by noon before hitting the 1.17 crore mark by 5 pm.

• Now, let’s break down ‘HR88B8888’. HR stands for the state in which the vehicle is registered, that is Haryana.

• 88 refers to the Regional Transport Office (RTO) or district in Haryana where the vehicle is registered. In this instance, it is registered at Kundli in Haryana’s Sonipat district.

• B refers to the specific vehicle series code issued by the RTO.

• 8888 is the unique, four-digit identifying number that the RTO has assigned to the vehicle.

• What intrigues buyers about this number is likely the visual of the ‘B’ and its similarity to the number 8.

• In this instance, the letter B makes it seem as if the entire licence plate features the letter eight.

• Last week’s top-selling licence ‘HR22W2222’ sold for just Rs 37.91 lakh.

• In April, tech billionaire Venu Gopalakrishnan purchased a licence plate for Rs 45.99 lakh.
  Gopalakrishnan purchased the ‘KL 07 DG 0007’ licence plate for a Lamborghini Urus Performante, ‘KL 07 DG 0007’.

• The 007, of course, was reminiscent of the code for the fictional and iconic character James Bond.

• Bidding for the licence plate began at Rs 25,000 before ending at the record price.

• As per The Times of India, Chandigarh has shown a special affinity for such fancy licence plates.

• Between 2020 and 2025, at least half a dozen such fancy single-digit number plates were auctioned off in the city.

• In April 2022, one buyer paid Rs 15.44 lakh for a registration which would go onto a two-wheeler that cost just Rs 55,585, meaning that the number plate was almost 30 times more valuable than the vehicle.

• In June 2024, a two-wheeler valued at Rs 59,336 received a plate that had been auctioned for Rs 4.95 lakh.

• In August 2024, a vehicle estimated at Rs 64,024 was affixed with a number that cost Rs 5.75 lakh.

• In all, nine two-wheelers, all valued under Rs 1.28 lakh each, were given single-digit numbers that sold for between Rs 1.70 lakh and Rs 15.44 lakh.

• This was also witnessed in four-wheelers but not as extreme. Three sedan owners also bought registration numbers for more than their car was worth.
  The vehicles, priced between Rs 9.56 lakh and Rs 13.22 lakh, were outfitted with plates that had been sold for between Rs 12.21 lakh and Rs 24.40 lakh.

With inputs from agencies