Transport dept constitutes committee to look into DTC bus advertising

New Delhi, Apr 12 (PTI) The transport department has decided to constitute a three-member expert committee to examine the DTC's proposal for full body wrap advertising on its buses, officials on Saturday said.

A meeting of the State Transport Authority (STA) was held last month where the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) put up a proposal for changes in advertising rules to generate revenue.

The matter was discussed with all stakeholders and a resolution was passed in this regard.

"Currently there is no advertising on these buses, which can be a source of revenue for the corporation, according to the DTC. Delhi Traffic Police has, however, opposed the proposal, flagging concerns about safety of commuters," a DTC official told PTI.

The STA board has decided that the matter needs comprehensive examination of views of both DTC as well as Delhi Traffic Police.

Therefore, an expert committee will be formed under the chairman of STA consisting of one expert each from DIMTS, DTC and Traffic Police.

The committee has to submit its report on the matter by April 14.

"It has been clearly evident that there are two point of views in the matter pertaining to display of advertisement on the passenger vehicles especially the DTC buses. Therefore, it is proposed the STA board may consider both points," according to the minutes of the meeting held.

The DTC which is facing problems in generating revenue, had proposed in 2016 that in low floor buses, except window glasses and rear wind glass panel, advertisements can be displayed on rear side, left side and right side of the vehicle.

The proposal initially was approved by former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, as the DTC's proposal further said that all other State Transport Undertakings (STUs) in the country, specifically the BEST operated in Mumbai and others are adopting the same process and generating a good amount of non-traffic revenue.

The DTC currently operates around 3,000 buses transporting lakhs of people in the city.

Subsequently, the Delhi Traffic Police had in a letter pointed out that "affixation of advertisements on the right side of any public service vehicle is a source of distraction for motorists which may lead to road accidents", according to the meeting minutes.

An initial approval was withdrawn in 2017 and it was decided that advertising would be allowed, but it would not cover more than 75 per cent of the bus space. PTI SSM AS AS