Losers to get better odds in license plate lottery

Beijing residents who haven't won a city license-plate purchase permit will get a higher priority in the lottery pool next year.

"The government will give a better chance of success to lottery participants who have not been successful in securing a plate," said Liu Xiaoming, director of the Beijing Commission of Transport.

The commission is still working out details of the plan, which will be released later this month and implemented next year.

However, the policy does not ensure that would-be buyers will finally get lucky after years of disappointment. Liu said that the lottery pool has more than 1.7 million participants, many of whom have been trying to get a license plate for years.

Beijing introduced the vehicle license plate lottery system in January 2011 to curb the growth rate of new automobiles in the capital. Under the system, potential car buyers have to participate in a lottery each month for a purchase permit. Those who don't win have to re-enter in subsequent rounds.

Ding Limin, a professor with the department of transportation engineering with the People's Public Security University of China, said the policy will not only satisfy some potential buyers in the city, but appease public dissatisfaction with the system as well.

"In most cases, the longer a resident participates in the lottery, the more urgently he needs a car," Ding said. "It's necessary to give more consideration to this group of participants."

There are many cases in which first-time entrants in the lottery get lucky and obtain a purchase permit even though they are not yet ready to have a car, he said.

However, some experts believe the policy damages the principle of fairness.

"To give priority on the basis of seniority is not fair," said Luo Lei, deputy secretary-general of the China Automobile Dealers Association.

Wang Jiangyan, head of the China Sustainable Transportation Center, said that applicants who have been trying to get a license plate for three years without success should be identified as a "senior" applicant, considering that Beijing introduced the license plate lottery system three years ago.

Lu Xueye, an employee with a software company in Beijing who has participated in the license plate lottery for years, said the news gave him hope.

"As the number of participants keep growing and the number of permits is likely to be reduced by half in the future, I barely see any chance to be lucky in the lottery," Lu said.

Lu also suggests that families without a vehicle get a higher priority in the lottery.

"My wife and I have been married for two years and no one in the family has a vehicle, whereas some families have more than two cars and are still participating in the lottery," he said.

But Liu of the Transport Commission said that families without a vehicle will not be given a better chance to win a plate, dampening rumors that the commission is considering doing so.