‘We want Noida to become a major OOH destination’

Acknowledging the significance of outdoor advertising revenues, Rakesh Mishra, ACEO, Noida Authority says, “We understand that OOH advertising is an essential business tool for various corporates for their promotions. It is a great means of educating people and disseminating the product information, and at the same time it adds an aesthetic value to the cityscape. Hence, it is our onus to regulate the entire outdoor advertising system”. Rakesh is at pains to emphasise that their primary aim is ensuring proper regulation and streamlining of outdoor advertising, whereas generating revenue is secondary.

To overhaul the system, the authority has started revising the site rates according to their location and demand by segregating the city into three zones. “A study is conducted while dividing the city into different zones. We identify high footfall locations, developing and under developing locations and designate rates accordingly. This helps us in not only getting good revenue from high footfall areas but also generating revenue from other two locations”, explains Rakesh.

The authority isn’t bearing all the losses alone but tracking down companies that had illegally erected the media in their jurisdiction. It has approached the defaulters and explained the legalities involved. The authority also offered to convert their sites into legal by way of license fee payment. Some of the companies paid the dues to have their sites converted into legal one and those who didn’t have taken down their media,” he shares.

Rakesh admitted to the fact the illegal mushrooming of sites was caused by inefficiency on their part, which has been corrected. “Unlike earlier, we now have a dedicated team in place to keep a constant check on such developments. We have also decided to take legal actions against defaulters and started to blacklist them”.

To enhance the business opportunities in Noida, the authority is open to Digital OOH, which is in the initial stage of its take-off. “We welcome the digital display in our city; in fact, we are pegging it as a big revenue generator, close to Rs 4-5 crore. However, the placement of the sites should gel with the norms laid down by the authority”, cautions Rakesh. He further explained the need to control the number of screens from cluttering the market or distracting the masses. Additionally, the authority is open to allow displays on commercial and private buildings with a certain amount of fees. Although he believes that the public utilities such as FOBs and public toilet blocks, prove to be lucrative for advertisers.

With an aim to make the outdoor business profitable for both the authority and traders, Rakesh shares that they have already eased out the fee submission procedure by allowing the traders to pay the amount quarterly (with an increased security fee). “Traders are a part of our system. They are free to come up with innovative ideas that adhere to authority norms”, sums up Mishra.