BMC's OOH policy delay spells festive cheer for media owners and agencies

New Delhi: The delay in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) new outdoor advertising guidelines has brought temporary relief to out-of-home (OOH) advertising players. 

According to sources, the final guidelines will be released after considering feedback from the stakeholders, the upcoming Maharashtra state elections, and the recommendations of the Bhosale committee regarding the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse.

The BMC OOH policy had caused uncertainty and disrupted the planning for OOH media owners for the festive season. "The main concern for media owners is the impact on their investments—both those already made and those planned for the future. The changes could have significant repercussions on these investments," a source explained.

However, with the delay in the guidelines, OOH players can now proceed with their festive season advertising campaigns without the uncertainty of new regulations looming, the source emphasised.

The feedback portal for the policy may be closed, but sources indicate stakeholder concerns are still being considered. "Clauses are being debated. The closure of the feedback portal doesn't necessarily signal the end of the process," a source familiar with the policy's development revealed. 

This suggests the policy is not scrapped and is undergoing revisions based on feedback, as was planned. "Internal pressures are affecting the pace of draft formulation and implementation," another source pointed out. 

"The feedback by the Bhosale committee was supposed to come out by the end of August, and BMC would have made the necessary policy changes depending upon the recommendations," a source familiar with the process revealed. "Now the report is only going to come in hopefully September end and post that only they'll be able to actually sort of take a call which way it is going or not," the source added.

The policy's dependence on external factors is another key point. "50-60% policy implementation depends on the feedback to be integrated—including those resulting from the Ghatkopar incident probing," a source familiar with the policy's scope highlighted. This indicates the Bhosale Committee's investigation is a major contributor to the final set of policies to be executed on OOH policies under the BMC.

The Maharashtra government on Monday, July 30, set up a six-member committee to conduct a high-level inquiry into the illegal hoarding collapse tragedy that killed 17 people in the Ghatkopar area of Mumbai, officials said. 

The committee is headed by Dilip Bhosle, former Chief Justice of the High Court, and includes the Director General of Police, Additional Commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a structural engineer from IIT Bombay, an Income Tax Officer, and a Chartered Accountant. 

The committee's mandate, as detailed in the order issued by the state Home Department, includes investigating the roles of the entities responsible for the hoarding and the petrol pump. The panel will also recommend a hoarding policy review of all railway or police land to avoid such incidents in the future.

It is worth noting that BestMediaInfo.com had previously reported, citing sources, that the launch of BMC's OOH policy would be delayed until after the Maharashtra Assembly elections later this year.

Back then, sources close to the development told BestMediaInfo.com, “As one starts to consider the political background and the operational course of the BMC, this particular issue is a conundrum of factors beyond just the OOH advertising guidelines. Thus, it is very less likely that the draft version will take shape or be implemented before the Assembly Elections later in 2024.” 

Experts also highlight the complexity of implementing such regulations. "In the OOH sector, one hindrance is that agencies and media companies that have been indulging in illegalities are scared of loss of revenue," a source with expertise in the industry pointed out. This suggests addressing concerns about potential revenue losses for some stakeholders may be a factor influencing the policy's development.

The lack of standardisation in the OOH sector further complicates matters. "There's no standardisation across the sector," a source pointed out. This suggests the policy might need to address inconsistencies in existing practices, causing potential delays.

Even the railways have raised objections to certain provisions of the BMC's OOH policy, arguing that it oversteps their jurisdiction. This might be underlined by the threat caused to their revenue generation out of OOH business and regulation, suspected one of our sources.

"There are even problems where billboards are being removed but then societies that were responsible for holding those billboards then come forward complaining about how it is affecting their passive revenue—contributing to making up for 40–50% of their maintenance expenses," a source familiar with the implementation challenges highlighted. Addressing concerns like these from various stakeholders could contribute to the delay.

"A major issue is that some billboards are being removed, and the societies hosting them are now complaining about the loss of passive income, which accounts for 40–50% of their maintenance expenses," a source familiar with the implementation challenges noted. Concerns like these from various stakeholders could be contributing to the delay.

While the future of the BMC's OOH policy remains uncertain, it's clear that scrapping it is not on the immediate agenda. The complexities of stakeholder concerns, ongoing discussions, and external investigations are likely to influence the policy's final form and implementation timeline.

Earlier, the Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) had submitted written statements to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) outlining its concerns and recommendations regarding the OOH policy. 

IOAA had also written to AAAI on how a mandate for becoming IOAA-registered might help in regulating the sector. Given that there are no answers or updates from BMC or AAAI on these matters, it is likely that there might be meetings held with stakeholders soon—this highlighted one of the experts privy to the matter when asked about the expected way forward since the portal has been closed.