The tender issued by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation says the chosen bidder will have exclusive advertising rights for a period of 9 years. Delhi Metro has now increased the frequency of its routes after the easing of the lockdown. The Metro rail system has seen commuter traffic returning to near-normal levels with safety measures in place. According to DMRC data, Metro footfall has risen from 6.8 lakh per day in September 2020 to 12 lakh per day in October 2020 — a doubling of passenger numbers.
DMRC has now invited advertisers to bid through an open e-tender for Line 1, which is called the Red Line. This successful bidder will have exclusive advertising rights on Delhi Metro Trains on Line 1 for nine years. Bidders can submit the e-tender bill latest by 14 January 2021. The bids will be opened on 15 January 2021.
The selected bidder will have exclusive rights to design, procure or manufacture, install, manage, operate, maintain, market, and sell advertising opportunities on selected Delhi Metro trains on Line 1 subject to the terms and conditions specified in the License Agreement, according to the DMRC note.
The Licensee will be expected to earmark 5 percent of advertisement space inside Metro trains for DMRC campaigns, social activities, and social messaging in line the company’s CSR policy. Cost for printing advertisements for social marketing activities or social messaging shall be borne by DMRC.
The successful bidder will also be able to “curate innovative advertising opportunities” in metro trains, such as experiential marketing, advertisements by visual aids, and smart posters for use e-commerce for on-line or off-line shopping purposes, among a host of others.
The DMRC announcement, however, stipulates that advertisements on Route Maps, train floors, and straphangers are not permissible. In addition, there is no room for digital advertisements in the contract even as DOOH has gained considerable traction lately.
The quoted annual licence fee will have an incremental escalation of 20 percent at the end of every three years of the License Period on a compounding basis. On the basis of the contractual conditions, the licensee can use up to 10 percent of the total train coaches/cars subject to a maximum limit of 20 percent of the total train sets under operational holdings of any make and configuration on Line 1. This, in effect, works out to 62 coaches/cars in 8 train sets.