Now, audio ads on DMRC’s Violet Line

The advertisements will first be aired on six trains on Violet Line (Kashmere Gate to Badarpur) on a pilot basis for a year, officials said

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is set to experiment with audio advertisements on some of its trains as a revenue generating avenue, officials familiar with the project said on Tuesday.

The concept of in-train audio advertisements was first proposed by a private company run by Shammi Narang, the man who has voiced Delhi Metro announcements (HT Photo)

The advertisements will first be aired on six trains on Violet Line (Kashmere Gate to Badarpur) on a pilot basis for a year, officials said, adding that they will air between mandatory service announcements. To be sure, the Violet Line extends beyond Badarpur into the Haryana towns of Faridabad and Ballabhgarh, but the advertisements will only air in Delhi, the officials said.

“Based on the feedback received from this pilot project, this avenue may be expanded to other lines as well,” said Anuj Dayal, principal executive director, corporate communications, DMRC.

The concept of in-train audio advertisements was first proposed by a private company run by Shammi Narang, the man who has voiced Delhi Metro announcements for the past two decades, DMRC officials said.

“His (Narang’s) firm has been providing in-train and in-station audio content to Delhi Metro for the last two decades and shall be implementing this new project in association with DMRC,” Dayal said.

However, the advertisements may not necessarily be in his voice alone, and companies will be able to provide their own audio, similar to those on radio stations, officials said.

Audio-based marketing already exists on other Metro networks in India. For example, Line 1 of the Mumbai Metro (Versova to Ghatkopar) actively issues audio advertisements between announcements.

Commuters, however, say that DMRC should find the right balance between the audio advertisements it plays.

Muskan Nanda, 24, who regularly uses the Delhi Metro to commute between Subhash Nagar and Gurugram for work, said DMRC should ensure such advertisements are not repeated too frequently.

“If one-odd advertisement is played in between service announcements, I don’t think people will mind too much. If multiple advertisements play back-to-back and their frequency is high, then it may cause an annoyance to some,” she said, adding that advertisements may also make it more difficult to focus on service announcements.