Ludhiana/Chandigarh, September 11: Keeping in mind the frenzied trend in Ludhiana, where people are ready to shell out lakhs for a special mobile number, the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is auctioning for the first time special or vanity numbers of the two newly launched series in the Punjab circle.

S K Nigam, the General Manager of BSNL Telecom here, said the auctions for the first 2,000 mobile numbers of the new series beginning with 94640 and 94641 started on September 6 and will continue till September 13. The bid till now for the number 9464000000 has been Rs 40 lakh.

A senior BSNL official said, “The minimum reserve price for VIP numbers is in thousands. It is Rs 1,000 for numbers that end with three same digits like 888, Rs 2,000 for those that end with similar four digits and Rs 3,000 for five digits. The reserve price for number 9464000000 and 9464111111 is Rs 5,000. The numbers are up on the Punjab circle website.”

Meanwhile, there has been overhelming response to the auctions. Parveen Kumar, BSNL’s Divisional Engineer, Ludhiana said, “People have bid upto Rs 40 lakh for 9464000000. 9464111111 has received bids upto Rs 12 lakh and 9464000009 for Rs 3 lakh.” The BSNL plans to use the surplus from the auctions in bettering the network in rural areas.

With hope has also come scepticism at the almost unrealistically high prices people have quoted. BSNL officers are wondering how much of it is fake and pumped up. However, this is not likely to impede the auction process, as the number will be passed on to the next bidder if the highest bidder does not turn up.

General Manager (Mobiles) A K Bhargava said, “Non-serious bidders will be barred from participating the next time since we are keeping records. Only BSNL cellular subscribers are allowed to participate in the auctions.” If one is not an existing BSNL subscriber, he can bid through a friend's BSNL number.

In such cases, the liability to pay the amount, if declared highest, shall remain with the BSNL subscriber. Bhargava said the company hopes to earn a handsome revenue from the auctions.

In July this year, Amit Malhotra of Haibowal had paid Rs 15.5 lakh for the number 978000000. When asked if competitors had enthused the BSNL to go the auction way, Praveen Kumar said, “No, the idea was already in the pipeline. The formalities took time.”