India (Commonwealth Union)_ India’s most expensive vehicle number plate has stirred fresh debate after selling for a whopping ₹1.17 crore, only to land back in re-auction. The plate, HR88B8888, drew widespread attention last week when it became the costliest registration number ever bid on in the country during Haryana’s online auction for VIP plates. Haryana conducts these auctions every week through its official portal, where people compete for so-called fancy numbers.
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Applications open every Friday at 5 pm and remain available until Monday at 9 am. Bidding runs through the next few days, and results will be declared on Wednesday evening. The entire process is digital, and the state regularly sees high-value bids. Just last week, another VIP number, HR22W2222, was sold for nearly ₹38 lakh. The current record-setting plate, however, has taken an unexpected turn. Sudhir Kumar, Director at Romulus Solutions Private Limited, won the bid for HR88B8888 after two days of intense competition.
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The base price was just ₹50,000, but demand pushed the figure all the way to ₹1.17 crore by the time bidding closed at 5 pm on Wednesday. Kumar eventually outbid 44 other applicants to secure the number. But by Friday night, trouble surfaced. Kumar was required to pay the full amount by 12 pm on December 1, and he later said he attempted to make the payment twice on Saturday but was unable to complete the transaction due to technical issues. He also admitted that the purchase had sparked disagreement at home. While Kumar felt the number had special appeal and was worth the investment, his family strongly opposed spending such a large sum on a number plate.
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Speaking on Sunday, he said discussions were still ongoing. “The elders in the family feel this is not a sensible amount to spend on a registration number, though I still believe it carries value. We will take a final call by Monday,” he said. As the deadline passed without payment, authorities confirmed that the number would be put up for auction once again. The interest in HR88B8888 comes largely from its unusual visual pattern. “HR” marks Haryana, “88” denotes the RTO unit, and “B” represents the series. When written in uppercase, the letter B resembles the number 8, giving the plate an appearance of five consecutive eights. This rare sequence is considered lucky by many buyers, adding to its demand and record-breaking price.
