Sunday, Aug 11, 2013

Dubai: Lovers of special number plates will now be able to buy them without having to enter either the online or public auctions, as the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) now offers direct sale of distinctive number plates at its customer care centres.

Currently, three categories of numbers are available for direct sales, which are priced between a minimum of Dh1,600 and Dh1 million.

“We are offering two, three and four digit numbers right now and prices vary depending on the series and the number that is chosen. This is the third channel that we are opening for distinctive number plates apart from public and online auctions,” said Mohammad Abdul Karim Nimat, director of vehicle licensing at RTA’s Licensing Agency.

Public auctions happen only four times a year, while online auctions happen seven times annually. Nimat said the direct sales channel is being opened for those people who don’t like to take part in auctions.

“There are people who don’t like to take part in auctions or they can’t wait till the auction. With the channel of direct sale, people won’t have wait till the auctions start. They can directly visit a customer care centre and get their favourite numbers depending on availability,” Nimat added.

Available series

The sale of number plates is offered at three customer service centres in Deira, Bur Dubai and Umm Al Rumool and the series available include E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M and N.

“The distinctive number plates can be purchased through the three customers service centres where the buyer is required to submit a cheque of Dh5,000 as a deposit and choose the number plate. The application will take three to 10 days to process and once approved, the customer will be contacted,” Nimat added.

He said each number is created in several codes and the approval of a chosen number will depend on the availability of the codes.

“Sometimes a number chosen is available in only one code and the rest are already sold. In that case, the sale of the last remaining plate won’t be approved and the number will go to auction. The customer will get a full refund of the deposit he paid,” Nimat said.

He informed that the RTA plans to offer the direct sale service online soon at www.rta.ae.

By Shafaat Shahbandari Staff Reporter

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