Cuttack MC plans to outsource outdoor media management

The objective is to root out all unauthorised media in the city and properly implement the Odisha Advertisement and Hoarding Policy, 2015

The Cuttack Municipal Corporation is issuing a tender to invite bids to manage outdoor advertisements in the city. The move, as reported in The Telegarph, is aimed at outsourcing the monitoring of media to check and root out unauthorised media.

To check the menace, the corporation had introduced the web-enabled system for registration of advertisers and self-declaration of advertisements in April last year. Under the system, hoardings and billboards of the advertisers, who fail to make the payment through online, were to be treated as unauthorised and removed without notice.

The civic body earns Rs 1.5 crore to Rs 1.75 crore from advertisement tariffs, whereas an estimated 20%-30% revenues are lost due to unauthorised media. The civic body also expects the new system to bring about a proper implementation of the Odisha Advertisement and Hoarding Policy, 2015.

Also, the state government rolled out the new rules through a gazette notification on January 21, 2016, but the corporation was yet to implement it. The new rule restricts placing of advertising device anywhere under any category which will obstruct free movement of the road users.