Lawyer questions legality of Shanghai licence plate auctions

A Shanghai-based lawyer has questioned the legality of the municipal government's controversial car licence plate auctions, which rake in 4 billion yuan (HK$4.69 billion) a year but for which financial results have never been published.

Si Weijiang , a seasoned lawyer in administrative lawsuits, asked Shanghai's No 2 Intermediate People's Court yesterday to cancel a notice by the Shanghai government and instead require the authorities to publicise the legal documents supporting the city's monthly vehicle licence plate auction system.

Si applied to the Shanghai government on June 24 for access to the legal documents and received a reply sent by the government on July 15 that read: 'After investigation [we find that] what you are inquiring about is information the government should release publicly. The relevant laws include the People's Republic of China Road Traffic Safety Law and the Auction Law of the PRC. They are already on the website of the National People's Congress and we suggest you log on to its website to check.'

The court did not reach a verdict yesterday. 'I haven't found any clauses in these two national laws to sustain Shanghai's [car plate] auction. Ironically the two laws serve as a veto against the auction system,' Si said at yesterday's hearing.

The road law allows for vehicle registration at public security and transport authorities but makes no mention of registration quota limits or the need to auction licence plates.

The other law only governs auction activities, with nothing specifically related to the plate auction.