Officials from the KP Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department hosted the event at Nishtar Hall on Tuesday. Bidders showed tremendous enthusiasm as they completed for exclusive and vanity registrations. Their strong participation pushed prices to record levels and delivered impressive revenue for the province.
Highest Bids and Notable Sales
The auction delivered some eye-catching results. ‘Wazir 1’ topped the list and fetched Rs150 million after intense bidding. Javed Afridi, owner of the PSL franchise Peshawar Zalmi, snapped up ‘Afridi 1’ for Rs140.5 million. PTI MPA Nek Muhammad Khan bought ‘Khan 1’ – a plate reminiscent of PTI founder Imran Khan – for Rs111 million. Other strong performers included ‘Peshawar 1′ at Rs100 million, ‘Haripur 1’ at Rs80 million, and ‘Yousafzai 1’ at Rs49 million. Additional sales featured ‘Durrani 1’ for Rs16.6 million, ‘Malakand 1’ for Rs12.5 million, and ‘Swabi 1’ for Rs12 million.
Future Plans and Online Shift
Organisers withdrew the ‘804’ plate from the physical event. They also kept back registrations tied to major political names such as ‘Zardari 1’ and ‘Sharif 1’, along with those linked to national cricketers. The department will auction these online soon to maximise value and reach more bidders. Provincial Minister for Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Syed Fakhar Jahan hailed the overwhelming response. He described the initiative as innovative and truly public-friendly. He added that upcoming auctions will adopt an e-bidding system for better transparency and convenience. Interested buyers can already apply for customised names and marks through the Dastak App or directly with the Director General of Excise.
