Mumbai media owners baffled by BMC move

Several media owning firms operating in Mumbai are baffled by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) move to bring down hoardings on rooftops and terraces, and displays on foot-overbridges (FoBs), as apparently they have not received any notification to this effect from the urban local body. While the new draft advertising policy, which has no provisions for hoardings on rooftop and terrace, still pending approval, the existing policy does not curb the use of this media. Hence, the media owners are wondering why this move has initiated. In any case BMC had stopped renewing the annual licenses for rooftop sites.

In fact, some of the media owners contacted by Media4Growth have said that they will take the matter to the court as they are following the existing ad bylaws and hence are aggrieved. “There are no illegal media sites in Mumbai and we adhere to all rules and regulations issued by the BMC and we pay 10% escalation in tax every year despite de-growth in the business,” said a media owner.

The media owners have already been grappling with another issue whereby the traffic authority had issued a notice to switch off lights on OOH sites that are within 25 meters of the road. This has particularly hit the business of some 300+ gantries in the city. This move was apparently initiated to control what is seen as a traffic hazard. While some of the media owners have obtained a a stay from the court on this matter, some others are still dealing with it.