"On July 23, 2020, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) released a memorandum announcing the Print Media Advertising Policy 2020. The policy pertains to the Bureau of Outreach and Communication (BOC), which is the arbiter for all paid outreach campaigns on any media on behalf of client Ministries/ Departments and organisations of Government of India.
The Government regularly undertakes promotional campaigns to disseminate information on public sector undertakings (PSUs) such as schemes, programmes and policies for the benefit of the public. The objective of these campaigns is singular, that is, to secure the widest possible coverage of the intended content or message. BOC maintains a list of approved publications for release of advertisements by empanelling acceptable publications.
Leading print players have taken umbrage with one aspect of the new policy. According to the memorandum released by the MIB, the rate structure for advertisements against advertisements released by BOC will be worked out as per recommendations of the Rate Structure Committee. The rates will be related to certified circulation of a publication.
Rate considerations will be made on the basis of circulation. The BOC requires print media players to furnish circulation figures up to 25,000 or above 25,000 after the approval of which empanelled publications will enter into a rate contract with BOC for a period of two years.
In India, circulation of publishers may vary from 2,000 to tens of millions and the rates published by the Rate Structure Committee are very low for the leading newspapers in India. Furthermore, when PSUs and Autonomous Bodies complained that some newspapers refused to publish their ads at BOC rates, on behalf of member publications, the Indian Newspaper Society responded, “INS sees no justification in PSUs and autonomous bodies engaged in commercial activities getting the benefits of DAVP rates, which are structured for social service and public education campaigns.”
MV Shreyams Kumar, Joint Managing Director, Mathrubhumi, observed, “We have been accepting lower rates so that the Government can communicate their schemes for the benefit of the public. However, Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) or other financial institutions are issuing commercial advertising that are not in public interest. In such a case, accepting the DAVP rates is very detrimental to the newspaper industry, because it is a very low rate.”..."
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