Outdoor Advertisements: Patiala Municipal Corporation awaits govt approval for change in tendering process

Tribune News Service

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Patiala, October 15

Over six months after the Municipal Corporation here had sent a proposal to the state government for changes in its tendering process for outdoor advertisements, the civic body is still awaiting a response on the matter.

The tenders for a number of locations in the city are awaiting allocation, leading to loss in exchequer. As per the policy, only one tender is allowed for the whole city.

MC Commissioner Poonamdeep Kaur told The Tribune: “Patiala is not that big a city which generates a lot of money through advertisements… We had written to the head office to divide the city into two or three parts.”

Last year, the Municipal Corporation had floated the tender for the outdoor advertisements seven times but it was not allotted. It was mainly due to lack of bidding capacity among the contractors, said the MC chief.

“We reduced the price, but were still not able to allocate the tender. We are facing losses as we are not getting money for the advertisement sites. The same is now under the consideration of the head office,” she said. “A meeting was also held in this regard.”

The earlier tender floated by the MC is already in place, she said. However, the tenders to be allotted for the new sites are pending.

“If the proposal is accepted, the city could be divided into at least two parts for getting the advertisements,” said the Commissioner.