NDMC clears new advt policy; seeks to boost revenue

The new advertisement policy of North Delhi Municipal Corporation expected to significantly augment the revenue of the cash-strapped civic body was today passed by its House.
Under the policy the entire civic area has been divided into 15 clusters which will be allotted to contractors through tenders. A single contractor may also apply for all the fifteen clusters, a senior official said.
"The policy which has removed restrictions on the criteria for contractors is likely to generate advertisement revenue upto Rs 65 crore which at present is around Rs 18-20 crore," said Virender Babbar, vice-chairman of the standing committee of NDMC.

The contractors category restriction in the previous policy has been removed in the new policy which will help increasing number of bidders and expectedly also increase the revenue, he said.
In order to ensure compliance and regular payment by contractors, the policy provides for quarterly advances of rent and security. If the advances are not received by 10th of a given month, the NDMC will have right to cancel previous contract and issue fresh tender for concerned cluster, he said.
The policy with some changes which were incorporated in it was approved by the standing committee about two months ago.

Another feature of the policy is that the contractor who is allotted a cluster will also be responsible for keeping a tab on unauthorised advertisements in the area, Babbar added.