Comprehensive ad policy soon

Comprehensive ad policy soon

CHENNAI: The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) will soon expand the scope of display ads on its buses and termini. It is in the process of framing a comprehensive advertisement policy.

Over 1,000 buses in the MTC's fleet of 3,300 sport advertisements. The revenue earned by the corporation from the advertisers has gone up from Rs.5.5 crore in 2009-10 to Rs.7 crore in 2010-11.

The Union Ministry of Urban Development had recently written to all 63 cities, which have received JNNURM funding, to frame a city-specific advertisement policy. The rationale is to cross-subsidise the bus fare through other sources of revenue.

A senior MTC official said various options are under consideration, including leasing out space for advertisers in termini in exchange for cleaning, maintenance and upkeep. He said that the proposed policy would try to find a meaningful balance between the need for advertising revenue and an avoidance of visual clutter. Transport Minister V. Senthil Balaji said that as a first step, the MTC would float single tender inviting bids for display ads on all its buses, instead of dividing it into batches.