BENGALURU:The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is steadily losing out on revenue from outdoor advertisement displayed both at its premises and on its buses.
BMTC’s revenue from ads went up to `774.59 lakh in 2011-12. This was an increase by `280.32 lakh from the previous fiscal.
However, for the successive fiscal years of 2012-13 and 2013-14, the corporation saw a decline in revenue from ads. For the year 2012-13, the revenue was `523.90 lakh, which further slumped to `375.57 lakh during the 2013-14 fiscal.
A BMTC official said that the slump in revenue was due to the complaints filed by activists against buses carrying advertisements. “They even drag the corporation to the court, and till the cases are being heard, the ads are pulled down from all the vehicles,” he said.
A senior BMTC official said, “We lost goodwill with the advertisers after the incident as the ads are given by them on a contract-basis and payment is done for the period of the contract. Pulling down ads before that period has left a dark mark on our work and hence we are still struggling with increasing the revenue generated through ads.”
Earlier BMTC carried ads on its Volvo buses. But another hurdle that came in BMTC’s path was a rule of the Road Transport Office that denies fitness certificates to vehicles or withholds registration to vehicles carrying material that might distract other drivers.
BMTC said that carrying ads on buses is a provision under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), and hence the petition filed in the court didn’t stand. But the damage was done and the corporation is still recuperating from the loss.
Meghansh, a surveyor with an ad firm that books spaces for advertisements in the city, said, “Though there might be a loss due to ads being pulled off from buses, the Traffic Transport Management Centre (TTMC) has also failed to attract many ads. These were touted to attract commercial benefits, but over the year has failed to attract much revenue.