Steep fee on mall facade in South Delhi rattles media owners

Mall media owners in Delhi are seemingly in a quandary in the face of a steep 8-fold increase in fee on mall facade set by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC). Mall facade media was earlier sold at Rs 100-200 per sq. ft, but with SDMC for the first time placing a charge on this media, and that too, taking the fee to a very high level, owners of such media are worried about the prospects of attracting business to the media. “With these new rates, the mall facades have become excessively over-priced which seems difficult to sell now. It would become difficult to justify the rates to the brands,” said one media owner.

Although malls attract large footfalls, and the media there has a captive audience, the steep rates will still deter many brands from advertising on the mall facade.

It emerges that the civic body first took note of the need to put a fee on mall facades when firms owning tendered media adjacent to the malls expressed concern over competition from mall facade media. SDMC thereafter placed a ban on mall façade branding and subsequently re-opened the branding of mall facades, but with a steep fee on the media. The affected media owners are now planning to reach out to the concerned authority to make a representation of their business problem.