Rajasthan govt responsive to industry needs: Planet Outdoor

Planet Outdoor, an OOH venture of Rajasthan Patrika Group, which played a pivotal role in putting forth the distressed situation of the regional outdoor industry, finds the notification issued by the Rajasthan Govt. quite helpful in mitigating the losses posed by the current global health pandemic. A leading outdoor owning firm operating in Rajasthan had taken necessary steps to approach the apex body asking for the relief in the backdrop of the lockdown.

The plea submitted in the month of April 2020 took 4 months to receive an outcome to help Rajasthan’s OOH business. The company had submitted a plea seeking complete license fee waive off for the year 2020-21, a one-year extension to the existing license tenure, avoidance of any new bid/auction for media for one year and reduction in the media base price.

“We had approached different bodies to present our plea which include Nagar Nigam, Director Local Bodies and finally we approached UDH ministry where we submitted our points with proper logics and images showcasing the ground report of the market”, shares Ashish Sharma, COO, and Planet Outdoor.

As a response to which the state government assured through the local bodies that necessary steps will be taken to improve the market conditions for the regional outdoor advertising industry under the RTPP Act.

Apart from this being an unprecedent situation, the biggest challenge was as there is no local association of Outdoor Media Companies formed in the state .We initially struggled to convince the authorities and find a right way to approach them. Moreover, after that also, it took two months for the approval”, says Ashish.

Commenting on this development, Ashish said, “We are heartily thankful to the government for the notification. But, the result of this will only be seen once the local corporations implement the instructions. We consider this as a temporary relief from the government because of the grim market situation.”

Pertinent to note that the RTPP Act provides to safeguard integrity in the procurement process and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto for enhancing public confidence under Article 348 (3) of the Constitution of India. RTPP Act, 2012 is the third Act of its kind after Tamil Nadu Transparency in Public Procurement Act, 1998 and Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act, 1999. The basic norms comprise: (a) ensuring efficiency, economy and transparency (b) provide fair and equitable treatment to bidders (c) promote competitiveness (d) ensure the quality is consistent with the price of bid and (e) prevent corruption.

Also read: Rajasthan media owners welcome state govt instructions on license fee, contract tenure, business improvement steps