The Transport Bureau (DSAT) said in a statement that yesterday morning’s bidding for vehicle registration plates with special numbers starting with “AA” was expected to add around 19 million patacas to the public coffers.
According to the statement, a total of 550 vehicle registration plates starting with “AA” were up for bidding, but only 172 of them were sold yesterday. The bureau received 476 bids for the 172 registration plates.
Vehicle registration plates starting with “AA” have already been issued over recent weeks after registration plates beginning with “MZ” had been used up.
Before the recent commencement of the issuing of registration plates starting with “AA”, for decades the city’s vehicle registration plates had been marked with an “M” plus a letter of the Western alphabet – or simply an “M” without another letter, followed by four Arabic numerals. Vehicle registration plates had been issued in alphabetical order – with “M” and then “MA” the earliest and “MZ” issued most recently before “AA” for non-motorcycle vehicles, except in the situation where the vehicle owners buy vehicle registration plates with special numbers (also always four digits) arranged by the government.
The issuing of registration plates for motorcycles is separate from the issuing of registration plates for all the other vehicles.
Non-motorcycle vehicle registration plates starting with “MV” were not issued by the government after the issuing of vehicle registration plates starting with “MU”, due to the possible confusion between “MV” and “MU” potentially affecting law enforcement and other government entities.
The bureau had decided to issue non-motorcycle vehicle registration plates staring with “AA” after registration plates beginning with “MZ” had been used up – which was the case over recent weeks.
According to previous news reports, over recent years vehicle registration plates with a second Western alphabet letter after the “M” letter had been used up every 12 to 15 months.
According to the website of the bureau, registration plate “AA-88-88” garnered the highest bid with a hammer price of 1,116,744 patacas during yesterday morning’s bidding session. A total of 12 vehicle owners bid for “AA-88-88”, whose asking price was 250,000 patacas.
According to the website, registration plate “AA-44-44”, which had an asking price of 60,000 patacas, received the highest number of bids, 41 in total. The plate went to the winning bidder for 265,767 patacas.
According to the bureau’s website, the 550 vehicle registration plates to be bid on comprised five under the category “A” with an asking price of 250,000 patacas, 12 under the category “B” with an asking price of 200,000 patacas, 53 under the category “C” with an asking price of 120,000 patacas, and 480 under the category “D” with an asking price of 60,000 patacas.
Transport Bureau (DSAT) officials unseal bids submitted by vehicle owners for “AA” vehicle registration plates with special numbers at the bureau’s headquarters in Estrada de D. Maria II yesterday. Photo: DSAT
