Haryana’s new outdoor ad rules tighten auctions, spacing and DOOH use

New Delhi: Haryana has amended the Haryana Municipal Advertisement Bye-laws, 2022, tightening auctions, site-selection norms, and digital screen operations for outdoor advertising across urban local bodies. 

The Haryana Municipal Advertisement (Amendment) Bye-laws, 2025, were notified on December 18, 2025, with officials citing road safety, urban aesthetics, transparency, and cleaner municipal revenues as the intent. 

The amendment sharpens core definitions that drive permissions and auctions. It redefines an “Outdoor Media Device” (OMD) to include both the advertisement material and its structure, and introduces “clusters of OMDs”, described as clustering of more than one OMD at different locations. It also defines “reserve price” as the minimum price of an OMD or cluster for auction, to be specified by municipalities as per state guidelines. 

Municipalities can now schedule an auction only if there are three unique bidders for each advertisement site. If that threshold is not met in two consecutive auctions, the municipality can proceed with two bidders, and after two more unsuccessful rounds, even a single bidder can be allowed. 

The bye-laws also harden bidder eligibility and tenure discipline. Approved OMD sites can be auctioned only to registered entities with valid registration, and bidders can participate only if their registration has at least six months’ validity left. The winning entity must maintain valid registration throughout the tenure of the advertisement rights. 

A mandatory earnest money deposit (EMD) has been built into the portal-led process. Municipalities must convey approval or rejection of applications online within 30 days, then list approved sites on the Online Advertisement Portal within three days for auction. The EMD is set at 10% of the reserve price, refunded to unsuccessful bidders after rights are transferred to the winner, but forfeited if the successful bidder declines the offer post-bid. 

The amendment also pushes e-auction as the default route for granting advertising rights on public properties. If one e-auction attempt fails to get a response, the municipality can move to an e-tender process only after specific approval of the Director, Urban Local Bodies Department.

The bye-laws empower municipalities to promptly remove any unauthorised outdoor advertisement, including its structure, from public property or public view, and dispose of it immediately on an “as-is, where-is” basis. 

They also introduce a stronger on-ground identification requirement. Registered entities and listed owners (for self-advertisement) must display a metallic plate, at least one foot by one foot, with the embossed municipal logo and OMD approval details. Non-compliance can trigger a penalty and cancellation of permission.

The amendment rewrites the lateral and longitudinal site-selection criteria, with explicit restrictions around right of way (ROW) and intersections. For national and state highways, the lateral distance is specified as one metre measured from the edge of the ROW, and OMDs are not permitted within the ROW of the National Highway. For sector roads, municipal roads and roads other than scheduled roads, the distance is five metres from the edge of the ROW. Where a municipal road ROW is under 20 metres, the OMD is to be installed at the edge of the ROW parallel to the carriageway, with size restricted to 4.6 x 3.05 metres.

The minimum straight clear distance between two OMDs along a road has been set at 75 metres. OMDs are also barred within 75 metres of a road junction or traffic intersection in the direction of traffic entering the crossing, and within 50 metres in the direction of traffic exiting it, with distance measured from the edge of the traffic intersection. The bye-laws add that OMDs must not block traffic signage or signals, and are generally not permitted on roundabouts unless specifically allowed. 

For private property, the amendment introduces spacing discipline for high-impact formats. The permissible distance between edges of a unipole OMD or wall wrap OMD and another such OMD on private property is set at 50 metres of frontal façade, with rules for additional OMDs on the same premises.

The schedule spells out typical dimensions for Typology ‘B’ and ‘C’ devices and the placement conditions. For a 6.1 x 3.05 metre panel, the bottom of the advertisement panel must be at least three metres above the adjacent road edge, and the foundation pole must be at least five metres away from the road edge. Large billboards and unipoles are linked to ROW conditions, and 12.0 x 6.0 metre devices are restricted to pedestrian and parking or market areas.

Gantries are permitted only on municipal roads with divided carriageways for welcome signs and social messaging by the municipality. Sponsor branding is to be placed on the opposite side of incoming traffic, with a minimum eight-metre clearance between the road and the lowest gantry surface, and the maximum height of OMD on a gantry capped at one metre.

The amendment also curbs “call-me” clutter. On vacant OMDs, mobile numbers covering the whole space are not permitted, and can be used only up to one-tenth of the total OMD space.

For on-premises advertising visible from a public street or road, the maximum permissible area per building face is defined. Shopping malls, corporate offices, shops and shopping complexes get a cap of 20%. Self-advertiser office or shop signage is capped at 5% for plots up to 500 square metres, and 3% for plots of 500 square metres and above.

Wall wraps must allow natural light through material that has 75% transparency. OMD height is tied to building height, with caps of 8 metres for buildings up to 15 metres, 12 metres for 15–36 metres, and 15 metres for above 36 metres. The bye-laws also bar coverage of openable doors or windows and protect architectural features and approved façade character.

For Typology-D OMDs, the amendment introduces daily penal charges for violations and for not removing the OMD after an event ends, as decided by the municipality. It also caps such inventory by requiring municipalities to locate a maximum of five Typology-D sites per ward, identified on municipal and other roads, with at least 75 metres between sites.

For innovative OMDs such as LED, LCD and 3D screens, inflatable and gas balloon media, and similar formats, the bye-laws mandate specific permission, with civil aviation no-objection certification wherever applicable.

Digital screens face the sharpest operational constraints. LED, LCD and 3D screens are restricted to market areas and select public spaces such as parking places, parks, walkways and public toilets, and are not to face directly or perpendicularly to vehicular movement. 

Screens can be allowed at junctions only where there are traffic lights, and can display ads only to the side of traffic that is stationary due to a red light. The display must be synchronised so the ad starts five seconds after the red light and stops five seconds before the yellow. Screens may also be permitted at toll plazas near toll collection booths towards incoming traffic, where vehicle speed is under 10 kmph. 

Along roads, LED or LCD OMDs may be permitted on unipoles or billboards, but only for static slide-format advertising, with no video or moving content. The slide sequence cannot run continuously, and the time gap between each slide cannot be less than one minute.

The amendment also creates a pathway for new technology formats, but with state oversight and auction discipline. New technologies can be adopted only if they do not violate general criteria, and the municipality must obtain government permission before implementing any such medium. After approval, the municipality must place it on the auction portal, while giving the innovator agency a first “Right to Refusal” to match the highest auctioned price before allotment goes to the top bidder.