[Rudra Sen]

Source: http://transport.bih.nic.in/Penalties.htm
'The Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) 1988, Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 and State Motor Vehicle Rules are the legal instruments for the conduct of road traffic in India'.

Point # 34: Using Private vehicle for Commercial purposes. (this of course can be interpreted in many ways )

MVA 192: First Offence: Fine up to Rs. 5000 (not less than Rs. 2000) or Imprisonment up to 3 months or both. Subsequent Offence: Fine up to Rs. 10000 (not less than Rs. 5000) or Imprisonment up to 1 yr or both.

Suggest you discuss this with a lawyer before. There are sharks all over the roads to make money here.

Mod note: Thread move to Street and Travel Experiences.

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by Cuatro

Dear friends,

I am in the process of starting my new business which absolutely needs publicity in a small way as it's a B2C venture. However, I have limited budgets for print / media advertising for this.

What I surely want to do is to use my privately owned Tata Nano(Non commercial Number Plate) as a mobile advertisement for my business.

It would basically have stickers/decals with:
1. Logo and tagline (about 1 ft X 2 Ft) or slightly bigger
2. Website address
3. Phone number and address details

However, I am not sure if this is allowed on Indian roads, legally speaking as I hardly see people doing this. At least I don't find any such things in Hyderabad(my home town).

I used to live in Australia for a few years and I found every small business running their cars with decals of their business names and contacts. I'd like to do the same to maximise my returns on investment.

Could anyone advise if my plan to do the above is legal in India/Hyderabad?


Thank you in advance.

I have seen dealers of herbalife products advertising on their personal cars heavily . Most of the car is stickered. Although its illegal going by what rudra has pointed out from the law, all these people don't seem to have any problem

[teknophobia]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Source: http://transport.bih.nic.in/Penalties.htm
'The Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) 1988, Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 and State Motor Vehicle Rules are the legal instruments for the conduct of road traffic in India'.

Point # 34: Using Private vehicle for Commercial purposes. (this of course can be interpreted in many ways )

MVA 192: First Offence: Fine up to Rs. 5000 (not less than Rs. 2000) or Imprisonment up to 3 months or both. Subsequent Offence: Fine up to Rs. 10000 (not less than Rs. 5000) or Imprisonment up to 1 yr or both.

Suggest you discuss this with a lawyer before. There are sharks all over the roads to make money here.

Mod note: Thread move to Street and Travel Experiences.

You should check what commercial use in respect of a vehicle entails, which is carrying passengers or goods for a fee.

[Cuatro]

Originally Posted by teknophobia

You should check what commercial use in respect of a vehicle entails, which is carrying passengers or goods for a fee.

That's right. This needs checking, probably at the local RTO near my place.

I would assume that commercial use is to carry passengers or goods as a service to other businesses or people. However if I carry a few boxes of materials for my own business occasionally, would it mean I will need to register my car with commercial number plates!?!? I really wonder if this is how the world operates in India.
. Nah, I haven's seen people do this so far.

Anyway, I will check with the authorities / lawyer and report back.

Thanks for the inputs so far!!

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

Point # 34: Using Private vehicle for Commercial purposes. (this of course can be interpreted in many ways )

Originally Posted by teknophobia

You should check what commercial use in respect of a vehicle entails, which is carrying passengers or goods for a fee.

Originally Posted by Cuatro

That's right. This needs checking, probably at the local RTO near my place.

Commercial vehicle means catering to a service for a fee, which means, that the vehicle is used for "ferrying" people or goods. Secondly, If contraband or illegal stuff is captured in the vehicle, The goods are seized and not the vehicle. If XXXX Packers truck is caught carrying a packet of drugs in a sealed box, the goods would be confiscated and not the truck, as the truck is used to move Mr ABC;s goods from Point X to Point Y.

Putting a Sticker should NOT matter IMHO because there is no "commercial" activity happening. We are just doing "publicity" by the sticker and not transacting anything. If our vehicle is being used to deliver goods to customers or taken for a service visit, then it might be an issue. Else there would not be any issue

Scenarios:

A JBL Sticker on a car should amount to Commercialism. It might be just an enthusiast who wants to indicate that he has JBL Speakers inside.

Dealer Stickers on automobiles sold should amount to commercialism as every other car has thier dealership sticker.

Volvo Stickers on Ashok Leyland Buses, Audi Stickers / logos on Santro cabs, "Ford / VW" stickers on Auto rickshaws should warrant commerialism.

Stickers shouting hilti.com , saiservice.com , team-bhp.com , xyz.com , anyproduct.com should not matter. If this matters, An aftermarket roof carrier with "ajanta" label, "Lightforce" auxilliary lamps etc would also be fined.

[TheARUN]

I think it is a private contract between the Company and the Car Owner. Imagine this, AMARON comes out with a new type of Battery, then they call you and request you to try it out on your car, a guniea-pig sort of arrangement, you agree for a fee, does it amount to commercial use of your vehicle, don't know.

[Cuatro]

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Scenarios:

A JBL Sticker on a car should amount to Commercialism. It might be just an enthusiast who wants to indicate that he has JBL Speakers inside.

Dealer Stickers on automobiles sold should amount to commercialism as every other car has thier dealership sticker.

Volvo Stickers on Ashok Leyland Buses, Audi Stickers / logos on Santro cabs, "Ford / VW" stickers on Auto rickshaws should warrant commerialism.

Stickers shouting hilti.com , saiservice.com , team-bhp.com , xyz.com , anyproduct.com should not matter. If this matters, An aftermarket roof carrier with "ajanta" label, "Lightforce" auxilliary lamps etc would also be fined.

Keeping in view the scenarios mentioned here, I wonder if the size of these stickers on the car matter?!

All the above scenarios would not contain stickers of more than a foot wide and a few inches tall(which no legal enforcement authority would mind, thinking it's just an enthusiast sticking some material on their property{Car}). But my concern is, what if it is a 2-3 ft wide and about 1.5 ft tall sticker?

Another point we need to compare this with is the "decals" that are openly sold in the market. Now, these decals (sometimes) cover a significant portion of the body, leaving the rest of the body to be identified by the original colour of the vehicle, which otherwise would attract the Cops' attention.

[ksaurabh21]

Came across this ad posted in my apartment notice board:

Get Paid to Drive!

If your car is in good condition and you're a daily commuter, Wrap My Drive wants to put money in your pocket! By participating in our car wrap advertisement program, you'll get paid to drive your sponsored car! There's truly never been an easier way to make money.

http://www.wrapmydrive.com/drivers/concept.html

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by Cuatro

Keeping in view the scenarios mentioned here, I wonder if the size of these stickers on the car matter?!

All the above scenarios would not contain stickers of more than a foot wide and a few inches tall(which no legal enforcement authority would mind, thinking it's just an enthusiast sticking some material on their property{Car}). But my concern is, what if it is a 2-3 ft wide and about 1.5 ft tall sticker?

Another point we need to compare this with is the "decals" that are openly sold in the market. Now, these decals (sometimes) cover a significant portion of the body, leaving the rest of the body to be identified by the original colour of the vehicle, which otherwise would attract the Cops' attention.

RIght - Some scenarios in Mumbai like Meru Plus which uses sticker decals and even the cool cabs have a blue decal surrounding them.

So even a black "carbon Finish" sticker would also qualify for the same. Yes - it would attract cops attention but we can never say. Sometimes cops let go of 2 wheelers who jump red lights but the same cop sometimes fine a BMW whose bumper is ahead of the Stop line. Its all our fate.

[tanwaramit]

Got this news today on Livehindustan.com

http://www.livehindustan.com/news/de...39-346016.html

ड्रीमर्स पूरा कराएगी विज्ञापन से कार का सपना

बढती महंगाई और महंगें ईंधन की वजह से कार खरीदने का सपना पूरा नहीं कर पा रहे लोगों के लिए विज्ञापन क्षेत्र की कंपनी ड्रीमर्स मीडिया एंड एडवर्टाइजिंग प्राइवेट लिमिटेड ने ऐसी योजना शुरू करने की घोषणा की है जिसके तहत निजी कार पर विज्ञापन प्रकाशित कर ग्राहक अपने सपने को साकार कर सकेंगे।

कंपनी के मुख्य कार्यकारी अधिकारी सुनिस मोहम्मद ने बताया कि उनकी कंपनी ऐसे लोगों को कार खरीदने में मदद करेगी जो छह लाख रुपए तक की कार खरीदना चाहते हैं। इस योजना के तहत ग्राहक को कार की कीमत की 25 प्रतिशत राशि का डाउन पेमेंट करना होगा और शेष राशि पांच वर्षों में किस्तों में चुकाई जाएगी जिसमें पहले तीन वर्षों की किस्तें ड्रीमर्स मीडिया भुगतान भरेगी।

More details on the link

Roughly translated
New car
Cost of car - upto 6L
Owner to pay - 25% upfront
Rest - 5 years EMI
First 3 years EMI will be paid by the company
Mandatory to run 1500 kms per month
The company has plans to roll out with 15k cars this year. Initially in Delhi, Bengaluru & Mumbai.

__

If this becomes successful, then its good.

[Achyuth Vaibhav]

Dreamers Media and Advertising have launched an interesting scheme for Out Of Home (OOH) advertising. The company will pay the EMI of your car which you buy through them, in return you will have to allow them to run advertisements. We all have seen radio taxis with ads on them, which helps the taxi companies in boosting profits. What Dreamers is trying to do is quite similar and can benefit those who don’t care much about the exteriors of their cars. So how does it work? You decide a car you want to buy (up to a maximum of Rs. 6 lakhs) and pay 25% downpayment on the 5-year loan. The car will be brought through Dreamers who will then pay the first three years EMI on the vehicle. The remaining 2-years EMI will have to be paid by you. You are eligible if you travel a minimum of 1500 kms a month. The company will cover 40-60% of your car with advertisements and you have to keep your car clean and not tamper with the stickers or VTS (a device which tracks how many kms you have done).


Dreamers Media and Advertising is targeting people from middle income group who have an annual income of less than Rs. 10 lakhs. The stickers used on the vehicle will be Vinyl printed using eco solvent inks. We are not quite sure about other terms like in case of a dent, who will bear the cost of replacing the stickers. The scheme is open all India and will be expanded to other parts of Asia Pacific and the Middle East. A 24×7 call centre has been put in place to ensure smooth functioning of the system. The company is betting big on higher budgets from advertisers, increasing commuting distance and decreasing penetration of newspapers and television. A turnover of Rs. 150 crores is being targeted in the first fiscal.
So what is the benefit. Let’s take the Honda Brio S MT for example. The vehicle costs Rs. 5.55 lakhs (on-road, Mumbai). The ex-showroom price is Rs. 4,89,425/-. Thus 25% down payment will be 1,22,356/-. The pending amount which will be the loan which is Rs. 3,67,069/-. Thus the EMI will be Rs. 8064/- at an interest rate of 12% (Dreamers might get lower interest rate as they will be having higher volumes). Thus Dreams will end up paying Rs. 2,90,304/- and the remaining two years EMI will be Rs. 1,93,536/-. So in total, you will end up paying Rs. 3,81,584/- for a Rs. 5.55 lakh car. Your saving will be Rs. 1,73,416/- although you will really end up saving Rs. 2.90 lakhs since the interest payment is there whether you opt for this scheme or not.
There are very few cars which fit in this scheme since most cars go above Rs. 6 lakhs in price. A diesel car will be easier to live with since your minimum running has to be 1500 kms a month. Does this scheme from Dreamers Media sound lucrative to you?
Source:http://http://www.motorbeam.com/cars...heme-in-india/

[Saanil]

A friend of mine had told a similar scheme to me. While this may be true, I doubt people would take this. As far as I know your entire car will be full of advertisements. I know there will be people who do not care about how their car looks but it might be important if you take your car to the office or to a relative's place. Plus what if they put a cheap advertisement on the car - say that of a condom or a Viagra or some 'Churaan'. Add to that the mandatory requirement of covering 1.5k kms every month. I really do not think people will be interested in such schemes.

[.Albatross.]

The scheme is definitely lucrative for some. Consider the Maxi cabs running in the rural areas. They may not care about what is pasted around their bolero/trax. There may be a needy few too, who will benefit from the scheme.

[Pancham]

What I feel in India(majority of states) owning a car is still a status symbol.
And then buying a car and moving up the social ladder and then coming down from it by putting up these ads on the car's exterior. Dont think its gonna work. Well I may be wrong. I am sure a lot of research must have gone into this.

Originally Posted by .Albatross.

The scheme is definitely lucrative for some. Consider the Maxi cabs running in the rural areas. They may not care about what is pasted around their bolero/trax. There may be a needy few too, who will benefit from the scheme.

Wouldn't the price of taxis exceed 6 Lakhs?

[SedatedDrive]

Someone would file a PIL in the Supreme Court against the use of advertisements on motor vehicles and how it can distract other motorists and cause an increase in accidents. It is bound to happen.

Disclaimer: I am neither for or against this scheme. Personally I don't like any stickers on my car, not even the dealers sticker.