Chandigarh: The MC general house has turned down the request of Crest to share advertisement rights. House members decided against allowing 50:50 revenue sharing on advertisement rights, saying that the civic body would not settle for anything less than 100% revenue.Crest (Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science & Technology Promotion Society) had proposed to share advertisement revenue with the MC at 39 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across the city.During the general house meeting, members were of the unanimous opinion that since the electric vehicle (EV) charging stations are installed on municipal land, they would collaborate with Crest only if it agreed to hand over 100% of the revenue.Councillors cutting across party lines opposed the move, with the MC booking and advertisement branch citing rules for objections.MC sources explained that its advertisement branch had earlier proposed the display of advertisements on EV charging stations to generate additional revenue. Thereafter, senior MC officials and Crest formed a joint committee to finalise terms and conditions for tendering advertisement rights.Before deliberations concluded, Crest requested that advertisement rights be allowed on 50:50 revenue-sharing basis between both parties.Box: EV charging stations under scannerDuring discussions in the house, municipal councillors raised multiple issues related to EV charging stations.Councillor Anju Katyal said charging stations at many places have not been working for some time. A few councillors flagged price variation in many. They also underlined the need for major improvement in the functioning of such units.In response, the MC commissioner said these issues were under the jurisdiction of Crest but councillors‘ concerns would be conveyed.Box: The plan for ads–The MC general house on Friday approved e-auction of 16 unipoles and 59 advertisement panels, totalling 75 sites for advertisement–With the tender estimated at around Rs 6.7 crore, these unipoles and panels are divided into four zones–Terms and conditions have been finalised to float e-tender
