Revenue loss forces BEST to rework advertising plans

The loss of revenue to the tune of Rs40 lakh per month due to removal of vinyl advertisements on its air-conditioned buses has forced Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) to rework its advertising strategy.

The loss of revenue to the tune of Rs40 lakh per month due to removal of vinyl advertisements on its air-conditioned buses has forced Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) to rework its advertising strategy.

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The Regional Transport Office (RTO), Tardeo, had issued a notice to BEST in February this year to remove vinyl advertisements on its AC buses before March 31; any non-compliance would make BEST liable for action.

Complying with RTO’s order, BEST removed vinyl advertisements, but it has completely spoiled look of these buses, apart from registering a whopping loss of Rs15,000 per month per bus. There are 270 such AC buses in its fleet. “We will bring out a proper schedule and repaint all AC buses gradually as they can not be taken off the road,” said OP Gupta, general manager of BEST, in the committee meeting held on Thursday.

To overcome revenue loss, Gupta said, “We will have to use some other material or try other forms of advertisements.”

The undertaking, which plans to procure 50 Volvo buses from Asian Concierge, had initially chalked out its repayment strategy based on the revenue generated from advertisements. Sanjay Potnis, BEST committee member, said, “The contract would remain unchanged but we will have to compromise on revenue, as the advertisements now will be according to RTO norms.”

Some of the solutions to generate revenue discussed in the committee meeting were either following Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport model of advertising on its buses or allowing advertisements only on half body of the bus.