Motorists slam hike in vehicle registration number charges

Motorists have criticised the sharp increase in vehicle registration number charges after the RTA revised its fee structure. With higher reservation costs and no guarantee of allocation, many say the new system adds financial burden and reduces interest in fancy numbers.

Hyderabad: The recent increase in charges for reserving vehicle registration numbers has sparked criticism from motorists, who say the new rules introduced by the Transport Department were placing an additional financial burden on vehicle owners.

Earlier, vehicle owners could choose a preferred number from the list of about 150 available numbers on a given day by paying Rs 1,000 under a ‘tatkal’ facility, excluding fancy numbers. If there were no competing bids, the selected number would be allotted to the applicant.

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However, the Road Transport Authority (RTA) withdrew this facility in December 2025 and revised the fee structure. Under the new system, reserving a preferred number costs Rs 6,000 for four-wheelers and Rs 3,000 for two-wheelers, making it more expensive even for ordinary number selections.

Motorists point out that paying the reservation fee does not guarantee the number either. “If another applicant enters the bidding process for the same number, the original applicant must participate in the auction and pay additional amounts to secure it,” said Srinath from Gandhinagar.

Meanwhile, the base prices for fancy numbers have also been increased significantly. For instance, the popular number 9999, which earlier required a base fee of Rs 50,000 before bidding, now carries a base price of Rs 1.5 lakh. Similarly, numbers like 1 and 9, earlier priced at Rs 50,000, now require a base fee of Rs 1 lakh.

Other repeating number combinations, such as 3333, 4444, 5555, 7777 and 8888 have also seen their base fee rise from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000.

Several motorists are criticising the steep hike, stating that the department is raising charges even as interest in fancy numbers is reportedly declining due to the high costs.