Exclusive: Government Unwilling To Reveal Expenditure On GST Ads

The government provides half-baked information on the crores spent on GST ads.

(Photo: Erum Gour/The Quint)

To help explain the Good and Services Tax (GST) to businesses, the Government of India has spent crores of rupees on advertisements. But exactly how much was spent in the past 9 months? That the government is unwilling to reveal. What is it about these details that the government doesn’t want coming to light?

Using an RTI, the government was asked how much it had spent on advertisements since the GST came into effect on 31 March. The question was straightforward – what was the total worth of the advertisements placed in the print and television media?

Now, when you look at the government’s response, it seems like attempts have been made to hide things because the answers to the questions I asked in the RTI have been given in a roundabout manner. Only the expense for the print media ads have been given. However, which publication got how much hasn’t been given.

Why The Half-Baked Information?

Under the RTI I had submitted, the advertisement department of the Information And Broadcasting Ministry – the DAVP – revealed that in nine months, ads worth Rs 117 crore rupees were issued to the print media. But it seems like the DAVP has responded at its own convenience. All my questions have not been answered.

According to information provided by the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), from 1 July 2017 to 2 February 2018, a total sum of Rs 117 crore 10 lakh 37 thousand 907 rupees has been spent on GST print campaign.

Maximum Expenditure In August 2017

GST was implemented across the country from 1 July 2017. But in the print media, the highest advertising spend for this was in August 2017.

In August 2017, the government published advertisements worth more than Rs 33 crore rupees, while in July it spent 25.24 crore rupees. In terms of advertisements, the slowest month was in November, when only 7 crore 17 lakh rupees were spent on advertisements.

If we look at rest of the months, 13.94 crore rupees were spent on print ads in September 2017, Rs 11.99 crore in October, Rs 8.02 crore in December, 16.54 crore in January 2018 and in February (till February 2nd) 7 lakh rupees were spent.

Amount Spent On Electronic Media Was Not Revealed

Television channels were also bombarded with GST-related advertisements. In fact many GST conferences and GST conclaves were also held via TV channels, but how much was spent on these, has very conveniently been ignored. Even though in the RTI I very clearly asked:

“Which television and news channels or advertising agencies were given ads...”

Where Were The Given Advertisements Published?

Over 117 crore was spent on GST advertisements. But it seems like the government is unaware of exactly which newspapers and magazines these advertisements were published in. I had clearly asked in my application:

“Advertisements related to GST were published or broadcast on which TV channels, news channels, newspapers, billboards, posters, advertisement agencies and newsletters. How much was paid to all these channels, newsletters, journals and ad agencies? Provide clear information.”

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and the DAVP did not respond to this question at all.

No Information Regarding Advertisements Before GST Was Implemented

From the information received from DAVP, it seems that the government did not publish or broadcast any GST related advertisements prior to 1 July 2017. I had clearly asked in my question:

“Prior to the implementation of GST on 1 July 1 2017, and up until now (till 25 March 2018) when have all advertisements related to GST been published and broadcast? How much was spent on these? Provide chronological information.”

But the first part of this question has also been ignored. I have only been given information regarding print advertisements from 1 July onwards.

When the Information And Broadcasting Ministry was asked such clear questions, why have replies not been given? Why are the answers to so many questions incomplete? Providing only such selective information makes it seem like something is being hidden.