Pune OOH industry dismayed by official apathy, plans to challenge business unfriendly norms

The Pune Outdoor Advertising Association (POAA) has decided to challenge Pune Municipal Corporation in court of law if the new advertising policy is not in line with the media owners’ expectations. Earlier, Media4Growth had reported that the municipal policies in smart cities like Pune are not aligned with the changing urban landscape. The mismatch between the regulatory policies and the market demands are thwarting the scope of immense growth potential for outdoor advertising. “No doubt, the infrastructural developments in Pune will benefit OOH advertising in the long term but today the reality is that media owners are paying a very high cost for the urban revamp. The hoarding sites which come in the way of municipal projects are bull-dozed without consulting the owner or even compensating him for the same. With the market already reeling under the negative impact of GST, RERA and demonetisation, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) is increasing the difficulties for us,” fumes Kadar Attar, owner of Target Advertising.

Not looking at the one side of story, Media4Growth repeatedly tried to engage with the press department of PMC with no response from other side. Even the calls to the official of Skysign department within PMC which looks after the outdoor advertising went unanswered. “The PMC is completely cut-off with the ground realities faced by us. Now, they are planning to increase the tax rate which if implemented will completely wipe off our trade. Is this the way, we are dreaming to move from static to digital screens,” questions Raj, head of Raj Publicity. The downfall in the business has affected mounters, electricians, welders who are indirectly dependent on the trade. The media owners are in consultation with the senior members of POAA to challenge PMC in the court of law if tax rates are increased. In a recent conversation with Outdoor Asia, Chandrakant Kudal, former President, POAA and present CEO, Sixth Element said: ”The biggest challenge from their (PMC) side is the exorbitantly high license fee. We stood up against it and approached the apex authority, however there is no decision on it yet”.

The ignorant behavior of PMC coupled with the ‘smart city’ cry has impacted not only traditional OOH but also DOOH. The digital screens roll out which started with much fanfare find no takers now since advertisers shy away from running ads in slot shares. ”Indian advertisers are quite alienated with the slot system of digital screens and sharing a screen space with other brands makes them quite uncomfortable. Brands prefer taking static sites which showcase only their brand at a given point of time. Infrastructure development isn’t fast paced,” sums up Chandrakant Kudal.