Mumbai HC questions railway ad hoardings allocation, emphasises transparent tendering

New Delhi: Mumbai High Court, while hearing RoshanSpace Brandcom’s legal petition challenging the arbitrary allocation of railway hoarding sites, acknowledged the serious impact of the New Innovative Non-Fare Revenue Ideas Scheme (NINFRIS). The court observed that the policy grants unchecked power to Indian Railways, allowing them to bypass the standard tender procedure and offer contracts arbitrarily. This, in turn, has severely affected legitimate industry players like RoshanSpace, who secure advertising sites through competitive bidding. 

The High Court bench stated that the matter warrants a detailed hearing. It noted that railway landholding sites should ideally be allocated through a transparent tendering system to maximise revenue generation and ensure fair competition. The court has now directed all respondents, including Indian Railways, to file their replies, and the next hearing is scheduled for March 20, 2025.

A Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) inquiry had earlier exposed irregularities in railway advertising. The CVC uncovered discrepancies in the awarding of advertising contracts under the First Come, First Serve (FCFS) policy within the Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) divisions. The FCFS system, which has been in place since the 1990s, has long governed the allocation of advertising contracts. It had similar transparency issues to NINFRIS- which came into being on May 21, 2018; both policies lack transparency and encourage arbitrary decision-making. The CVC inquiry into the FCFS policy revealed several flaws, including the absence of a structured contract identification process, leading to opaque decision-making. The failure to conduct open tenders resulted in significant revenue loss for Indian Railways. Investigations also uncovered misconduct and irregular allotments, prompting vigilance action. As a result, multiple railway officials faced penalties, investigations, and disciplinary actions for mismanagement of FCFS contracts.

Based on its findings, the CVC recommended the immediate termination of FCFS-based contracts and a comprehensive CBI investigation into the FCFS policy across the Mumbai Division, CR, and WR. Responding to these recommendations, the Ministry of Railways took several measures that should now be replicated to mitigate the misuse of NINFRIS, having established the similarities and discrepancies between the two. FCFS was dissolved by the CVC as a result of a full-fledged enquiry, which noted the extent of fraud in allocating contracts. With this as precedence, RoshanSpace has urged the judiciary to apply the same corrective measures to eliminate corruption and unfair trade practices under NINFRIS. 

The parallels between FCFS and NINFRIS demonstrate the urgent need for reform, as the lack of transparency and unchecked discretion threaten fair competition and transparency. The scrapping of FCFS and the introduction of a digital e-auction system serve as precise historical evidence regarding abolishing policies that increase incidents of malpractice, although reframed in a new title and a name—NINFRIS—thereby ensuring accountability and increasing ethical governance in railway advertising.