Move to sell ‘special’ number plates for price

Manama : Several members of the House of Representatives are set to vote for a proposal to auction “distinguished” number plates of cars and other vehicles and direct the income from it to the state’s public budget, reports said on Friday.
Jamal Dawood, MP, said the aim of his submission is to increase the state revenue.
The idea of owning “distinguished numbers” are getting popularised among the people and communities, and auctioning such numbers would only help the state to increase its revenue, said reports quoting Dawood.
He was reportedly submitting the proposal to the councils of Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee.
The committee, authorised to give the nod, however, studied the implications of the proposal and reviewed the feedback from the General Directorate of Traffic before passing it.
According to reports, auctioning is already an existing strategy in the UAE, Qatar and Egypt, and are reported to be selling certain numbers for over USD5 million. However, the proposal needs to be passed in the House of Representatives and Shura council before referring to the government for implementation.