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Monday, November 23, 2009, 02.18 PM<small>
Personal Plate</small>
'1’ can cost you RM80,000
2009/11/22
By Arman Ahmad
KUALA LUMPUR: Fancy owning a personalised car number plate? ARMAND 1 or AHBENG 007? Motorists will soon be able to bid for vehicle registration plates with letters, word or numbers of their choice. Vehicle owners may also be able to buy a range of numbers such as BUKHARI 1 to 200.
However, according to sources, such personalised plates would be expensive, and certain numbers may cost hundreds of thousands of ringgit. Road Transport Department director- general Datuk Solah Mat Hassan said the personalised vehicle plates service would be made available to the public once the RTD computer system is upgraded.
“We should be able to provide this service about six months after the new system is installed.” Solah said the current computer system is not able to recognise the longer series of letters that would be used in the personalised plates. There is already a big demand for special numbers that the RTD issues through public tenders.
The introduction of the new personalised plates may affect the value of the current number plates, although Solah declined to comment on the issue. Revenue from the sale of the special number plates has skyrocketed from RM36 million in 1999 to RM141 million last year. The sale of these plates is now the second highest source of revenue for the RTD.
Road tax was the highest source of revenue for the department last year at RM1.8 billion of the RM2.64 billion collected. Revenue from the sale of special number plates is equivalent to 35 per cent of the RTD’s operating and development costs each year. Money collected from the sale of the plates goes to the government instead of the RTD.
All special registration numbers are sold through public tender. The highest price paid for a number was RM200,900 in 2006 for the number TAN 1. Other numbers fetching high prices include JJJ 1 which went for RM140,000, and WMW 1 at RM104,500. According to Solah, the value of number plates differed from state to state.
“For example, the number 1 in Kuala Lumpur goes for between RM60,000 and RM80,000 while the same number in Malacca would go for RM35,000 to RM45,000.” The digit 1 is always the highest priced number in any state, followed by the digits 2, 3 and 8.
Double digit numbers, such as 11, 22, 33 and 88 sell for between RM5,000 and RM15,000 each. Over the years, some other numbers have been highly sought after because they resemble names, professions and likeable words. Among them are RA 21 (Razi), RA 15 (Rais), DAV 10 (David), AFR 17 (Afrit), TAN14 (Tania), MAN 15 (Manis), JEL 1 (Jeli), DAN 1 (Dani), NAD 14 (Nadia), MAF 14 (Mafia), JED 1 (Jedi), DR 6161 (Dr Gigi) and DU 17 (Duit).
Solah said the RTD had issued special numbers to local car and motorcycle manufacturers in the past and for special events. These include the series Proton, Perodua, Persona, Waja and Kriss as well as the series XIIINAM, XI ASEAN and XXX IDB and X OIC. However, the issuance of these special series has been discontinued.
