Railway Display Network- IRCTC New Rules

Railway Display Network- IRCTC New Rules

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
RAILWAY BOARD

No. 2015/TG-IV/13/6

New Delhi, dated 11/07/2017

The General Managers
All Indian Railways

(Commercial Circular No. 50 of 2017)

Sub: Policy on Rail Display Network

Preamble

The Ministry of Railways have decided that, Indian Railways will strive to increase Non Fare Revenue by monetizing assets and undertaking other revenue yielding activities.The proposed Rail display network will enable real time flow of information to passengers and also unlock Digital advertising potential which will lead to increased non fare revenue.

Objective

The objective of this policy is to explore non fare revenue through Rail Display Network (RDN) project. The entire exercise shall be cost neutral to Railway.

1. Key deliverables of RDN

1.1 RDN shall integrate the existing rail passenger associated information at railway stations across India
1.2 RDN shall have central as well as screen level display capabilities with real time feeds to provide an option of giving customized information directly to the relevant set of passengers e.g. charting information.
1.3 RDN shall provide information related to arrivals, departures and running status of trains including expected delays and other relevant information like platform numbers, coach guidance, RAC Confirmation, etc.
1.4 RDN shall provide information pertaining to passenger comfort, amenities and passenger safety messages.
1.5 RDN shall provide disaster relief updates in case of emergencies to all concerned.
1.6 RDN shall display relevant information for and from various departments of Indian Railways.
1.7 RDN shall be controlled via a centralized network under RailTel, in which video and audio information and content shall be provided across A1 to D Category stations in various languages. RDN can also be extended to other categories of Stations with mutual consent.
1.8 The proposed Rail Display Network shall be utilized to display Railway information as detailed in paras 1.3-
1.6 and will not be less 50% in terms of time and/or space which shall be prescribed by RailTel.
1.9 The remaining time/space shall be utilized by the licensee to display advertisements, social messages, etc.

2. Nodal agency

2.1 Ministry of Railways have appointed RailTel or its wholly owned subsidiary to implement and manage RDN as the Nodal Agency.
2.2 An agreement shall be signed between Ministry of Railways and RailTel or its wholly owned subsidiary which shall detail the responsibilities and rights of both sides including the Revenue Share of the RDN Project.
2.3 Railtel shall frame the technical specifications of the project, operation and maintenance requirements, role/responsibility/obligations, service level standards and protocol for operation of the system which the licensee will be under contractual obligation to comply.
2.4 RailTel shall conduct the tendering process for selection of implementation partner and evaluate proposals on the basis of technical feasibility and generation of maximum financial revenue for the Indian Railways.
2.5 Railtel shall implement the project by inviting an open and transparent tender, compliant with all the extant guidelines of Government of India, CVC and GFR.
2.6 RailTel will ensure that it has proper control over the system at all times to ensure that the project and contract deliverables are ensured.

3. Contract Tenure

3.1 RailTel or its wholly owned subsidiary shall implement and manage RDN for a period of ten years which may be extended for a period of five years with mutual consent between Indian Railways and RailTel on mutually acceptable terms and conditions which will be reviewed and can be revised if required.

4. Rollout

4.1 Indian Railways shall have an incremental approach for rollout of RDN with the broad sequence of rollout being Category ‘A1’ stations followed by Category ‘A’ stations, then Category ‘C’ Stations which shall be specified in the RFP. Remaining stations in Category ‘B’ and Category ‘D’ shall be covered in the second phase. The timeline will not exceed a maximum of two years for each phase from the beginning of the contract. Additional time will be provided for other category of Stations. Penalties shall be levied for violation of timeline.

5. Technology & Content Delivery Platform

5.1 Rail Display Network screens shall display content through audio and video systems. The Licensee will be permitted to use technology specified in tender document and will also be allowed to upgrade it at any point in the contract period.
5.2 The RailTel and the Licensee shall be responsible for installing and supplying the Content Delivery Platform and Auction Engine required for successful operations of RDN.
5.3 The Content Delivery Platform shall be able to access, schedule and trigger the display screens from a remote central location.
5.4 The Licensee shall adhere to the implementation plan as mentioned by RailTel in the Tender document.
5.5 RailTel shall utilize its backbone optical transport network to provide a centralized information dissemination platform that would be providing contextual information that is customized to individual screen level across different categories of stations across Railways.

6. Installation of Equipment and provision of space at stations

6.1 The licensee shall be responsible for installation of Rail Display Network equipment and will bear the entire cost.
6.2 Indian Railways will provide built space, without charge, of 200 sq. ft. at each station for ICT equipment’s and associated power supply, spares and for maintenance engineer. If built space is not available at any station, RailTel will be provided with equivalent area to construct a structure to house the required facilities.

7. Security of Equipment

7.1 Indian Railways shall take feasible steps to ensure safety of the installed equipment. However, the licensee shall be responsible for insuring all assets.

8. Electricity/ Power Supply

8.1 Indian Railways shall provide electricity/power supply to the licensee at a lump sum charge only for consumption of electricity, as per the relevant policy. The Electricity/Power connection and its usage charges to RailTel shall be provided by IR on same terms and conditions as extended to IRCTC (RB’s letter no 2006/TG-l11/648/13 dt 2.11.2006).

9. Permitted Audio Levels

9.1 RailTel shall describe the exact, permissible audio levels in Decibels in the Tender Document.

10. Cyber Security Measures

10.1 RailTel will lay down detailed measures for ensuring security of the RDN system from any possible attempts to takeover control of the system by unauthorised sources and to ensure that the system can be isolated to prevent any hostile remote takeover of the system and the system goes in Fail Safe mode.

11. Content Specifications

11.1 The licensee shall display video and audio content services as per extant, relevant guidelines based on Government prescribed norms for public usage.

12. Display of Railway/ Railway approved Information

12.1 The licensee shall allow free of cost dissemination of Railways and Railway approved information on the RDN screens in 50% in terms of time and/or space which shall be detailed in the tender document.
12.2 The licensee shall ensure Content Delivery Platform technology and setup is capable to broadcast Railways or Railway approved messages live.
12.3 RailTel will ensure that the licensee adheres to the contract conditions by deploying its personnel in the Network Operations centre for constant monitoring.
12.4 The system will have capability of allowing intervention, for purposes of accessing the display system by Railways, at various levels of Ministry, Zonal Railways, Divisions and stations.
12.5 Ministry of Railways shall provide all relevant inputs to RailTel, which is required to be displayed for the information of passengers without any charge.
12.6 Ministry of Railways will nominate a Steering Group at the Divisional and Zonal levels besides the Railway Board level to ensure smooth roll out of the project. The Steering group will be consisting of representatives of Railways (comprising Commercial,S&T, Electrical and Engineering officers), RailTel and licensee to ensure the primary objective of the RDN of providing accurate and relevant Railway information to passengers is met. The Steering Group shall meet on a regular basis as mutually decided by Indian Railways and RailTel or earlier on a need basis.

The indicative list of matters to be deliberated and procedure/guidelines prescribed by the Steering Group including but not limited to:
(a) Ensuring passengers get accurate and relevant information and sources of information and its presentation are continuously improved.
(b) Project Management and resolution of issues affecting the rollout of the project.
(c) Operations aspects like metrics for measurement of services so as to maintain the project goals.
(d) Finance aspects relating to the project and to ensure its financial sustainability.

13. Advertisement

13.1 No static advertisement shall be allowed inside the station premises.
13.2 RDN shall be the exclusive advertising medium at the Stations which includes station building, concourses, platforms, FoBs but excludes circulating areas. However, RDN display screens would be permitted on a separate structure immediately adjacent to station building near the entrance to the concourse/platforms, only if placing of such boards is not feasible on the building due to heritage structure, facade, etc. and not more than two such RDN display screens will permitted at each entrance of a Station.
13.3 The licensee shall display advertisements through the content services only as per relevant Ministry of l&B, Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DelTY) and Government guidelines.

14. Revenue Share

14.1 A hybrid revenue share model of Gross Revenue from the Project shall be adopted where the licensee will be required to quote a Fixed Minimum Guarantee.
14.2 The revenue share between Ministry of Railways & RailTel from RDN project shall be in proportion of 65:35. The licensee shall develop necessary software to track revenue generation with adequate check mechanism and audit trail. This system shall be monitored by RailTel.

This issues with the concurrence of Finance Directorate of Ministry of Railways.

Sd/-
Executive Director (Traffic Commercial)
Non fare Revenue
Railway Board

Click here to download the Original Order

Source : http://www.indianrailways.gov.in