Will BMC’s new hoarding rules make Mumbai’s OOH safer or smaller?

New Delhi: Mumbai’s outdoor advertising market, one of India’s most high-value and visibility-driven OOH geographies, is entering a new era. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s recently notified outdoor advertising policy, covering hoardings, digital OOH and structural safety norms, has triggered a wave of reactions across agencies, media owners and OOH strategists.

The policy, shaped heavily by public pressure following the tragic Ghatkopar hoarding collapse, aims to overhaul Mumbai’s skyline with stricter structural rules, size caps, digital controls and a more transparent approvals system. 

But with the city’s advertising economy deeply intertwined with its streetscapes, industry veterans argue that execution, phase-wise rollout and consultation will determine whether the policy becomes a progressive turning point or an operational bottleneck.

Partho Ghosh, CEO, Insync, Tribes Communication, called the framework a forward-looking transition for Mumbai’s media ecosystem.

“The new BMC Outdoor Advertising Policy marks a progressive move toward modernising Mumbai’s OOH landscape. With a clear push toward digital formats, the policy reflects a future-ready vision for the city’s media ecosystem. The inclusion of stricter structural audits is also a welcome step toward enhancing safety and compliance, a long-standing industry expectation. If executed with balanced implementation and ongoing stakeholder collaboration, these reforms can truly elevate Mumbai’s OOH ecosystem to global benchmarks.”

Also read | BMC notifies new outdoor advertising policy for Mumbai hoardings and digital OOH

Ghosh’s optimism mirrors a broader belief that Mumbai, a city that has long struggled with unregulated formats, overlapping jurisdictions and sporadic clampdowns, is finally adopting a systematic, framework-led approach.

Another significant industry perspective comes from Vaishal Dalal, Co-founder, Excellent Publicity. He believes the policy’s intent is strong, but its operational impact could reshape Mumbai’s advertising footprint in material ways.

“BMC’s new OOH policy is a decisive safety-first move, and given the backdrop of the Ghatkopar incident, the intent is both timely and necessary. Measures such as capping hoarding sizes to 40x40 ft, stricter structural audits, and a clearer accountability framework reinforce the civic body’s commitment to public safety,” said Dalal.

He pointed out that the policy introduces long-required checks and balances, from online approvals to blacklisting repeat violators, and recognises city aesthetics as a core pillar. “The shift to online approvals, blacklisting of repeat violators, and the emphasis on long-term city aesthetics also bring much-needed transparency and governance to the ecosystem,” he noted.

However, he flags equally significant challenges.

Restrictions on rooftop and footpath hoardings, mandatory night-time switch-offs for digital screens, and narrower structural allowances are expected to shrink available media inventory, especially in a city where demand remains disproportionately high.

“Restrictions on formats like rooftop and footpath hoardings, coupled with operational curfews on DOOH screens, may reduce available inventory and impact campaign flexibility, particularly in a city where audience movement extends well beyond conventional hours. Compliance expectations, multiple NOCs, shorter renewal periods, and more extensive documentation could increase costs, especially for smaller operators,” Dalal cautioned.

The most globalised industry lens comes from Mandeep Malhotra, Founder & CEO, Srishti Media, who situated the BMC policy within global OOH reform trends.

Malhotra called the policy a necessary corrective move: “The BMC’s revised outdoor advertising policy is undoubtedly a response driven by public safety and structural accountability, especially in the aftermath of the Ghatkopar hoarding collapse. In principle, the guidelines move Mumbai toward a more regulated, audited and professionally governed OOH environment, something global markets adopted years ago.”

He drew parallels to global cities that reformed their OOH norms after safety scares. “Cities like London, Singapore and New York tightened OOH infrastructure norms after structural incidents and eventually saw more reliable, premium-quality inventory and higher advertiser trust. Mumbai appears to be moving in that direction.”

But he stressed that regulation alone does not guarantee a balanced outcome; execution does.

“Limiting hoarding sizes, restricting rooftop and footpath formats, mandating structural audits and tightening DOOH luminance controls are correct from a civic standpoint, but they increase compliance cost. This may consolidate inventory among large operators and risk squeezing out smaller players, which could reduce media diversity and local advertiser access.”

Global experience shows that transition support is key. Tokyo and Seoul, for instance, offered phased compliance windows and incentives for digital modernisation. “In markets like Tokyo and Seoul, policymakers mitigated this by offering phased compliance, digital innovation incentives and standardised online permissions; Mumbai will benefit from similar transition support,” Malhotra said.

Perhaps the most contentious part of the new policy revolves around digital OOH. While digital screens are allowed in indoor, controlled environments, roadside DOOH faces tight restrictions, from luminance caps to operational curfews.

Malhotra cautioned against blunt instrumentation, “Globally, cities have not discouraged digital; they have regulated it intelligently. Los Angeles, Dubai, Shanghai all allow DOOH with timed brightness controls, programmatic guidelines and real-time monitoring rather than blanket restrictions. Mumbai must adopt the same spirit: regulate, don’t restrict.”
The industry argued that DOOH represents the future of contextual, measurable, programmatic outdoor advertising, and Mumbai’s policy must enable innovation rather than reduce scope.

His concluding note encapsulated the industry’s overarching sentiment:

“A policy framework becomes progressive only when it protects citizens without stifling creativity, scale and technological evolution. In summary, the intent is right. If enforcement is transparent, approvals are digitised and industry voices are included in refinement, Mumbai can build a safer, more premium and globally benchmarked OOH + DOOH ecosystem rather than a constrained one,” said Malhotra.