6 days Ago By Joy Sengupta
Pune: The special BH registration numbers , introduced countrywide by the transport ministry in 2021, have become a status symbol for the city's motorists who line up daily at the regional transport office (RTO) and persuade officials to approve their documents. "It is a fact that they have become very popular and are considered status symbols. Several people are coming to us with documents to get these numbers.
They just want us to approve the documents, come what may," Swapnil Bhosle, the deputy RTO, told TOI. Another RTO official said that around 20-25 people visit the office on an average daily with applications. "Every month, we bring out a series of special registration numbers which can be bought and if there are more than one claimant for a number, an auction takes place.
The advantage with the BH numbers is that people don't have to pay a hefty amount to get them unlike special numbers. There are some applicants whose documents aren't proper and some who are not eligible to get these numbers. Even though they come to the RTO trying to coax officials to approve their applications," the official said.
TOI recently caught up with two such applicants at the RTO office. One of them didn't have a proper address proof with him. The other was simply not eligible.
"I have been asking my landlord to provide me with a proper rent agreement, but he is delaying things. I desperately want the BH number for my two-wheeler. Apart from having many benefits, the number itself looks different and stands out," the Kothrud resident said.
A private sector employee in Baner told TOI that he had four vehicles, including a couple of two-wheelers, with BH numbers. "I was eligible and hence took advantage of it. The number starts with the year of first registration of the vehicle followed by letters BH, computer chosen random four-digit number and then two alphabets between A and Z," he said.
"The numbers are only meant for state, central and private sector employees having transferable jobs, with multiple branches of their offices across the country. However, we have local people also coming in many a times to request for these numbers," another RTO official said. The official added that until now no case has come to light of an unauthorised person being issued these numbers.
"The documents are checked very carefully. In connection with the high security registration plates, there is a chance that people might break them and replace it with a fancy number plate, but we have not come across such cases," the official said..
