After exploring several avenues to boost revenues, loss-making Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) has decided to implement one more method. The Corporation has decided to install digital screens for advertisements inside buses.
This method was earlier pioneered by the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking in Mumbai in the late 2007s. BEST buses had closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras positioned at the entrance and exit of buses and two screens at the front of the bus that alternated between footage from the cameras and advertisements. Anyone who took a BEST bus in 2007-2008 would remember trailers of Jimmy, the debut film of Mithun Chakraborty’s son Mimoh. It kept appearing every two minutes and was really annoying.
Below is an image of the new display inside a PMPML bus, shared on Twitter by Devesh Shah.
This can be a good revenue booster for PMPML, which is currently in dire straits. As per a news report from July, the corporation is expecting its losses to touch ₹9,600 crore in the next ten years.
PMPML has been looking at different avenues of monetising its available assets over the last year but many of its efforts have faced a lot of flak. The most critical response was to a plan in March where it was proposed to set up bus shelters with a small-shop attached to it. Many activists and the usual suspect Pune Mirror heaped unwarranted criticism over the move claiming it would attract paan-bidi shops and inconvenience passengers without a shred of evidence.
Also Read: PMPML Gets Flak For Brilliant Plans To Monetise Network With Shops At Bus Stops
Subsequently PMPML began looking for other avenues, including starting parcel services and redeveloping its depots as commercial spaces.
The plan to set up digital displays may bode well for the corporation. A Business Standard report from 2013 said that BEST was charging advertisers a mere ₹9,300 for a 10 second advert on displays across its fleet. Should PMPML equip all the buses in its fleet with displays, it can earn a significant amount. It can also make use of the displays present at its Rainbow BRTS stations.
Let’s hope PMPML succeeds this time. Video ads inside a bus may not be such a bad deal after all.
Also Read: Dear Activists, Profit In Public Transport Is Important To Get People To Give Up Their Cars
Featured Image: Digital Advertisement Display In A PMPML Bus By Devesh Shah on Twitter
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