Delhi govt is considering allowing full-body advertisements on DTC buses, similar to metro coaches, to boost the financially burdened utility’s non-fare revenues, but the city’s traffic police has flagged safety concerns.
Delhi Traffic Police‘s concern is particularly about ads on the right side of buses. They say the ads could distract motorists.
To address the conflicting views, the transport department has decided to form a three-member expert committee to examine DTC’s proposal.
At a meeting of the state transport authority (STA) last month, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) put up the proposal for changes in its advertising rules with an eye on the revenues. The matter was discussed with all stakeholders, and a resolution was passed.
“The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) identified potential revenue opportunities through bus advertisements, which are at present non-existent. However, Delhi Traffic Police raised some concerns,” a senior official said.
The STA board determined that an analysis of perspectives from both Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and the Delhi Traffic Police is essential. It will establish an expert panel under the STA chairman, which will include one specialist each from the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System, DTC and the traffic police. The committee has to present its findings by April 14.
“It is evident that there are two points of view…. Therefore, it is proposed the STA board may consider both points,” the minutes of the meeting said.
Delhi Metro earned ₹441 crore in ad revenues in 2015-16, which went up to ₹492 crore in 2016-17. The metro’s income in the year ended March 2017 was ₹5,387 crore. Of this, ₹618 crore came from avenues other than operational revenue. Of the ₹618 crore, over ₹492 crore came from advertisements. The revenue, however, included the leasing of properties.
In 2016, DTC proposed that on low-floor buses, except for the window glass and rear wind glass panels, advertisements could be displayed on the rear, left and right sides of the vehicle. The proposal was initially approved by the then chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal. DTC’s proposal stated that all other state transport undertakings (STUs) in the country, specifically Mumbai’s BEST, were adopting the same process to generate higher non-traffic revenue.
Subsequently, Delhi Traffic Police said in a letter that “affixation of advertisements on the right side of any public service vehicle is a source of distraction to motorists, which may lead to road accidents.”
The approval was withdrawn in 2017, and it was decided that advertising would be allowed, but it would not cover more than 75 per cent of the bus outer surface.
Anil Chhikara, faculty at the Asian Institute of Transport Development, said: “There is an old court ruling that says advertisements should not obstruct motorists’ view, but that is not specific to buses. Since then, there have been a lot of changes. Now, you even see video hoardings.”
He added that there was “no harm in such ads”. Even cabs have them, Chhikara said. “It should be more visual and less about words,” he said.
