Auto Back Panel Branding in 10 Cities: The 500-Panel Minimum Priced City by City (2026)

Most people pricing auto back panels across cities expect ten different quotes. Our ten city auto branding pages publish one. In Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune, the 24 by 6 inch back panel is Rs.170 per auto one-time for 500 to 799 autos and Rs.140 from 800, the 24 by 18 inch panel is Rs.270 and Rs.240 on the same breaks, and the minimum is 500 autos. So the smallest back panel order in every one of the ten cities is 500 panels for Rs.85,000, or Rs.1,00,300 with 18 percent GST. What does differ sits outside the rate table: a city pricing note that names route premiums of 10 to 20 percent in seven cities, the price each page chooses for its headline, and how much of the local fleet 500 panels represent, from 0.11 percent in Mumbai to 1.25 percent in Kolkata. This guide reads all ten pages as published on 2 October 2026 and prices the minimum city by city.

What does the 500-panel minimum cost in each city?

The table takes each city page's own fleet count, its own advice for a first back panel order and its own pricing note, and prices the 500-panel minimum two ways: at the card rate, and with the note's premium applied as a ceiling. The ceiling column is our arithmetic. No page says the premium applies to back panels, and none says it does not.

Is the back panel rate really the same in every city?

Yes, on every page we publish. Each of the ten city pages lists the 24 by 6 inch panel at Rs.170 per auto for 500 to 799 autos and Rs.140 from 800, the 24 by 18 inch panel at Rs.270 and Rs.240, and a 500-auto minimum, one-time per auto with print and installation included and GST at 18 percent extra. That matches the national back panel service page line for line. Kolkata is the one page whose quick-facts list leaves out the 24 by 18 inch row, but its own FAQ publishes the same Rs.270 and Rs.240, so the card is complete there too.

The one break worth knowing before you compare cities is the slab at 800. From 659 panels upward, ordering 800 at Rs.140, Rs.1,12,000, costs less than the exact quantity at Rs.170, because 659 times Rs.170 is already Rs.1,12,030. Our cheapest-campaign guide works through that dead band in detail, and it falls in the same place in all ten cities.

Which cities name a route premium, and does it apply to back panels?

Every one of the ten auto branding pages renders a city pricing note under its rate table. Seven name a percentage: Bangalore 10 percent for central MG Road and Brigade Road routes, Chennai 10 percent for Anna Salai and T. Nagar in the Pongal and Deepavali seasons, Delhi 15 to 20 percent for Connaught Place and South Delhi (GK, Saket, Hauz Khas), Hyderabad 10 percent for HITEC City and Banjara Hills, Jaipur 10 percent on the Hawa Mahal and Amer Road tourist routes from October to March, Mumbai 10 to 15 percent for South Mumbai and Bandra, and Pune 10 percent on the Hinjewadi and Kharadi IT park routes on weekdays. Ahmedabad says premium pricing applies near Navratri garba venues without giving a figure. Kolkata and Lucknow name none.

Two things make these notes hard to price. First, the same note text appears on that city's mobile van and shop name board pages, so it was not written for auto panels. Second, it reads as van guidance: Delhi's note mentions permissions for branded vans, Ahmedabad's mentions vans near garba venues, and Mumbai's mentions weather-resistant LED vans. A route premium makes sense for a van that is driven along a booked route. A back panel rides on an auto that goes wherever the driver's fares take it, so a route premium has nothing obvious to attach to. We therefore treat the card rate as the price and the note as an open question, and the table above shows what that question is worth.

In money it is small but not trivial. A 10 percent premium on 500 panels adds Rs.8,500 before GST and Rs.10,030 after it. Delhi's upper 20 percent adds Rs.17,000 before GST and Rs.20,060 after. On an 800-panel order at Rs.140 the same 20 percent would add Rs.22,400 before GST. One sentence in the purchase order settles it: the back panel rate is the card rate, with no route premium.

Does each city page's recommended first order land on a premium route?

In nine of ten cities, no, which supports reading the notes as van rules. The pages' own advice for a first 500-panel order points at zones their notes call standard or do not name: Ahmedabad's CG Road and Navrangpura belt, which its note explicitly calls standard, Bangalore's BTM and Koramangala example, Chennai's OMR segments, Delhi's Vishwavidyalaya metro exit and Mukherjee Nagar example, Jaipur's Mansarovar and Vaishali Nagar example, Kolkata's gali zone, Lucknow's colony, Mumbai's Andheri West station and Lokhandwala example, and Pune's FC Road or Kothrud.

The exception is Hyderabad. Its page recommends starting at one IT gate-queue with HITEC City named first, and HITEC City is the route its own note puts at 10 percent. If that premium were applied, the page's own recommended starter would cost Rs.93,500 before GST and Rs.1,10,330 after, not Rs.85,000 and Rs.1,00,300. The page also publishes an Ameerpet metro-exit example at the plain Rs.85,000, in a zone the note does not list. Jaipur has a second case: its published 24 by 18 inch Amber Fort, Jal Mahal and Nahargarh example runs November to January on the tourist corridor inside the note's October to March window, Rs.1,35,000 on the card, Rs.1,48,500 with 10 percent, or Rs.1,75,230 once GST is added.

What share of each city's fleet do 500 panels cover?

Because the price is fixed, the honest difference between cities is the denominator. Using each page's own fleet floor, 500 panels are 0.11 percent of Mumbai's 4.5 lakh suburban autos, 0.17 percent of Delhi's 3 lakh, 0.45 percent of Bangalore's 1,10,000, 0.50 percent of Chennai's 1,00,000, 0.59 percent of Hyderabad's 85,000, 0.83 percent of Pune's 60,000, 0.91 percent of Jaipur's 55,000, 1.11 percent of Ahmedabad's and Lucknow's 45,000 autos, and 1.25 percent of Kolkata's 40,000. Lucknow's page also prices its 30,000 plus e-rickshaws on the same card, which takes the share there to 0.67 percent of 75,000 vehicles.

The fleets are published as floors, 45,000 plus or 3 lakh plus, so every share is an upper bound. Share of fleet measures presence, not response: we publish no response rates for back panels and do not estimate one here. The same Rs.85,000 buys eleven times the share of the fleet in Kolkata that it buys in Mumbai, which matters more for a citywide brand than for a coaching centre that only needs the autos around one metro exit. Our Hyderabad guide sets the minimum against the city fleets as one ranked table.

Why do some pages say Rs.140 when the minimum costs Rs.170?

Because Rs.140 is the lowest number on the card, and several pages lead with it. The national back panel page carries Rs.140 per auto in its title, and its six city cards, for Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad and Chennai, each say Starting at Rs.140. Chennai's headline facts strip shows Rs.140 per back panel, Pune's shows the range Rs.140 to Rs.170, and Mumbai's opening paragraph says rear panels from Rs.140 even though its own stat chip shows Rs.170. The other seven city pages lead with Rs.170.

Every one of those pages also publishes the slab correctly in its table: Rs.140 begins at 800 panels. The risk is a reader who multiplies the headline by the minimum. 500 panels at Rs.140 would be Rs.70,000, and that order is not on the card. 500 panels are Rs.85,000, and the cheapest order that earns Rs.140 is 800 panels at Rs.1,12,000. Rs.170 is the number to plan a first order on.

Did the published back panel examples price correctly?

Yes, all of them. Across the ten city pages we count 17 published back panel campaign examples, and each one multiplies out on the card. Eleven are the 24 by 6 inch minimum, 500 panels at Rs.170 for Rs.85,000: Ahmedabad's CG Road admission drive, Bangalore's BTM coaching campaign, Chennai's OMR free-trial route, Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar UPSC campaign, Hyderabad's HITEC City gate-queue and Ameerpet coaching campaigns, Jaipur's Mansarovar campaign, Kolkata's Jadavpur gali campaign, Lucknow's Gomti Nagar campaign, Mumbai's Andheri campaign and Pune's FC Road campaign. Four are 800 panels at Rs.140 for Rs.1,12,000: Chennai's Koyambedu admissions, Delhi's NCR app-install run, Lucknow's Gomti Nagar Extension e-rickshaw campaign and Mumbai's Ghatkopar and Thane run. Two are 24 by 18 inch panels at Rs.270 for Rs.1,35,000: Bangalore's food delivery app and Jaipur's Amber Fort hotel campaign. None quotes Rs.140 below 800 panels or any order below 500.

Two examples carry a condition worth noticing. Delhi's 800-panel example spans Rajiv Chowk, Noida Sector 18 and Gurugram's Cyber Hub, and the Delhi page says its volume tiers apply to combined Delhi, Noida and Gurugram deployments, the only page that lets a slab be reached across a region. Lucknow's runs on e-rickshaws, which that page prices at the auto rate. Published durations are 45 or 60 days where stated, while Ahmedabad's written advice is to judge a first order after 30 days. Because the rate is one-time, duration changes nothing in the price.

Which city claims do not match the card?

Two pages make price claims their own tables contradict. Kolkata's page says Kolkata offers the lowest metro auto branding rates in India, and Lucknow's pricing note says rates there run 20 to 30 percent below Tier 1 metros. Both pages then publish the national card, Rs.170 and Rs.140 per panel, identical to Mumbai and Delhi. Plan on the table, not the sentence.

The one cost that genuinely can vary by city, and by stand within a city, is the auto-union fee. All ten pages say some areas charge one and bill it at actuals, and none publishes an amount. Ask for it zone by zone before you sign, because on a Rs.85,000 order it is the only line that is not already fixed.

Where should a first 500-panel order go?

Our recommendation: book the 24 by 6 inch minimum, 500 panels at Rs.85,000, in the zone your city page itself recommends, and get the card rate confirmed in writing with no route premium. In nine of the ten cities that zone is not on a named premium route, so the confirmation costs nothing. In Hyderabad, either confirm that HITEC City panels are at the card rate or start at Ameerpet, which the page also uses as an example and its note does not list.

If your plan needs more than 658 panels in one city, go straight to 800 at Rs.140. If you need a bigger rear canvas for a QR code, the 24 by 18 inch panel is the only size change worth paying for at the minimum: Rs.1,35,000 before GST, Rs.50,000 more than the strip, and both published 24 by 18 inch examples use the space for a QR. To get a written quote at the card rate, use the back panel service page or the city page for your market.

What should you check before signing a back panel order in any city?

Frequently asked questions