According to Sources,the Bureau of Outreach and Communication (BOC), the Government of India's primary agency for advertising, is owed Rs 204 crore by 60 ministries and departments at the Centre. The outstanding amount is as of the fourth quarter of 2021.
BOC, which is part of the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry, not only conducts numerous multimedia and communication projects for the Government of India, but it also serves as a media strategy advisory body to the Centre. It was established in 2017 by uniting three former media organisations within the I&B ministry: the Directorate of Advertising and Publicity, the Directorate of Field Publicity, and the Division of Song and Drama.
Outstanding’ performances
According to data accessible until the end of last year, the Ministry of Finance has the most outstanding debts, totaling Rs 18.54 crore, followed by the Ministry of Defence at Rs 17.88 crore and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at Rs 17.30 crore.
Agriculture, Road Transport and Highways, and Human Resources Development all have high outstanding debts of Rs 13.48 crore, Rs 11.75 crore, and Rs 11.44 crore, respectively.
The railways, steel, and new and renewable energy ministries had the fewest outstanding debts, with Rs 48,664, Rs 5.99 lakh, and Rs 17.66 lakh, respectively.
When the ministries pay the BOC their outstanding debts, the agency makes payments to the various media companies that run the government's advertising and media campaigns.
It is unclear how long these debts have been outstanding, despite the fact that I&B secretary Apurva Chandra stated in a recent letter to all ministries that they have been "long overdue."
Chandra indicated in a message last year that the BOC clears the pending dues to the vendors only after receiving monies from the ministries concerned. The letter has been accessed by Sources.
According to Chandra, an additional director general of BOC has been appointed to investigate the matter, and the ministries have been asked to appoint a nodal officer for the purpose as well, to ensure that the "long overdue outstanding amount of vendors may be cleared on receipt of required funds."
Steps taken to recover dues
Senior government officials explained that owing money to the BOC for government media advertising has been a long-standing issue.
According to a senior government official, this has been the case for many years, and despite numerous letters and follow-ups, only a few people make the effort to entirely clear all outstanding debts.
According to a report submitted on December 1, 2021 by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, several efforts have been made by the respective client ministry or department to settle outstanding dues, including a series of letters from the I&B secretary to his counterparts in other ministries.
The panel requested that the I&B ministry formulate guidelines to set a timetable for paying the cash, stating that the BOC's outstanding claims for 2019-20 and 2020-21 totaled Rs 103.95 crore.
In its response to the committee, the I&B ministry stated that, among other policy mechanisms in place, the Print Media Advertisement Policy 2020 includes a clause requiring all ministries and departments to place funds in advance, without which the BOC may not release the advertisement or undertake any campaign, except in an emergency.
Similar phrases have been included in regulations relating to social media marketing, according to the report.
"BOC has been directed not to begin any new paid campaign of the Ministries/Departments unless they have cleared their old pendency," the ministry stated in a statement.
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