Action to be taken against advertising agencies for delaying in bill submission

F.P Report

Karachi: Secretary Information Department Nadeem-ur-Rehman Memon said that action will be taken against those advertising agencies, who deliberately delays in submission of the bills, this he said while chairing a meeting with the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Advertising Agencies, which are on the panel of Information Department in his office on Wednesday. He said that the effective mechanism for early payment to media houses has been devised in the department in order to avoid the outstanding liabilities at maximum level.

Secretary Information said that third party audit firm is being hired to clear the liabilities of media houses by ascertaining the genuineness and verification of the claim bills accordingly and the payment details will be uploaded on the website. Stressing on early submission of the bills, Secretary Information Nadeem-ur-Rehman directed the advertising agencies to submit the bills of the campaigns within the fifteen (15) days after release of any public awareness campaigns to print, electronic or social/digital media. Secretary Information said that the scope the information department is not only limited to the publicity of the Government but also to get public issues to be redressed by sending the media reports of public demands and grievances to the concerned quarters.

He said that the effective steps are being initiated for the revamping and improvement of Information Department by using latest tools of Information and Communication Technology. He said that advertisements are being released by the department as per the criteria mentioned in the Advertisement Policy-2023, by considering the regularity, circulation, readership, viewership and audience assessment, whatsoever other than this directed in the policy.

He further said that the detail of released advertisement mentioning space, amount and client department is being uploaded on the website of Information Department. Secretary Information said that action is being taken against the irregular newspapers by removing them from Sindh Media List (SML). “Daily attendance and regularity report of the newspapers will also be uploaded on the website of the department”, he added.

Director General Public Relations Muhammad Saleem Khan, Director Information Administration and Accounts Muhammad Yousif Kaboro, Director Information Advertisement Imtiaz Ali Joyo, Deputy Director Information Sahib Khan Bhand, Information Officer Liaquat Ali Jamali and representatives from the different advertising agencies include Salman Mansoor, Makhdoom Mansoor Hashmi, Sharaiz Hashmi, Abdul Qadir Shah and others attended the meeting.