Ghulam Haider
A bidder paid Dirham 55 million for Dubai’s number plate P 7 in an auction Saturday night setting a new record vehicles number plates and mobile phone numbers auction raised nearly Dirham 100 million for a Ramadan food appeal. The sold plates included H31, W78, N41, AA19, AA22, X36, Z37, AA80 and more.
The winning bid was placed at the end of a fiercely fought bid battle among guests at the Four Seasons resort in Jumeirah.
Starting at a bid at Dirham 5 million, the bids rose within seconds to over Dirham 30 million. The bid stagnated for several minutes at Dirham 35 million which was bid by Pavel Valeryevich Durov, the French-Emirati businessman who founded the app Telegram.
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However, the auction became heated as bids started pouring in from various quarters. The crowd cheered and applauded as each bid was placed. The price rose quickly until it reached the amount of Dirham 55 million by bid panel 7 who wished to remain anonymous.
In total, Dirham 97,920,000 was raised from the sale of car plates and exclusive mobile phone numbers at the Four Seasons hotel in Jumeirah. The event was organised by Emirates Auction, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority, Etisalat and Du.
‘P 7’ topped the list after a bidding war between several people who wanted to break the existing record set in 2008, when a businessman paid Dirham 52.2 million for Abu Dhabi’s number 1 plate.
The second highest number was AA22, which sold for Dirham 8.4m, followed by AA19 for Dirham 4.9 million.
New Record
The auction marked a new world record, surpassing the previous record of Dirham 52.5 million set sixteen years ago in Abu Dhabi. As the confetti and sparkles rose from the stage, the crowd gathered around the winning bidder in celebration.
UAE’s most expensive number plates
P7 (Dubai – Dirham55 million
(Abu Dhabi; sold In 2008)- Dirham 52.2 million
AA9 (Dubai, sold in 2021) – Dirham 38 million
AA8 (Dubai, sold in 2022)- Dirham 35 million
D5 (Dubai, sold in 2016) – Dirham 33 million
Mobile phone numbers auction
Ten mobile phone numbers from Du and 11 phone numbers from Etisalat were also on offer. Etisalat numbers went for more than Dirham 3.3 million, with the number 971548888888 on top of the list, selling for Dirham 2.3m.
The 10 special mobile numbers from Du went for Dirham 3 million.
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All proceeds go to the One Billion Meals campaign
All proceeds from the most noble numbers auction will go to the One Billion Meals campaign, which was launched to boost efforts to combat global hunger.
The One Billion Meals Endowment was launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, in line with the generous spirit of Ramadan.
It is the latest in a series of food drives held during Ramadan in recent years, but is taking a new approach to helping those in need.
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Instead of donations being spent directly on food parcels, they will go into endowment funds from which financial returns will be spent on feeding the needy.
Last year, Dirham 111 million was raised at an Abu Dhabi auction in April 2022, held in support of the One Billion Meals campaign. Abu Dhabi’s exclusive 2 car number plate sold for Dirham 23.3 million at the fund-raiser.
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