MC eyes ~2-cr revenue from ads on public toilets
Sandeep Rana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 23
After suffering a loss for the last four years, the Municipal Corporation is finally going ahead to offer advertisement on 190 public conveniences in Chandigarh.
According to the plan, the civic body will offer space on the walls of the toilets. A total of 14,436 sq ft space is on offer to the lowest bidder firm in the e-auction.
The minimum space at offer on each toilet will be 13.5 sq ft while the maximum will be 370 sq ft. The ads will be LED illuminated.
The cash-starved corporation aims for Rs 2 crore as revenue from the advertisements auctions. Sector 17 has been excluded from the list of toilets as heritage committee is reviewing the matter whether advertisements are to be allowed or not.
There are about 70 toilets where there will be maximum footfall. These fall in Sectors 7, 8, 9, 26, 34 and 35. However, operation and maintenance will be looked after by the public Health Wing of the corporation.
“The agenda in this regard has been prepared and will be tabled in the MC General House meeting on December 30,” confirmed a senior MC officer.
To ensure that the firm does not default on payment, the civic body will take Rs 2 crore bank guarantee. Besides, the selected company will have to submit four quarterly cheques in advance in a year. When after every three months, the payment is made, one cheque will be returned. Officials said the delay was because they were preparing to operate the toilets on PPP mode earlier, but did not get the desired response.
Fee of advt yet to be recovered
After 2015, advertisement on public toilets could not be done till today owing to a toilet scam in which the CBI had then registered a case against senior municipal officials. However, the MC has failed to recover the pending amount from the companies. Besides, for many years, the MC could not renovate more than 300 public toilets, which are in a pathetic condition, in the city.
20% property tax hike proposed
The proposed 20% hike in property tax rates in the city will be taken up in the general house meeting for approval. The commercial property tax was last revised in 2018, but there has been no revision in the house tax rates since 2015 when it was introduced.
