BBMP Policy 2018 or State Rules 2019: Time will tell

The Bengaluru OOH business is caught in web of intriguing policy tangles, with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on one side suggesting that the BBMP Outdoor Signage and Public Messaging Policy 2018 is deemed implemented after the state government failed to act on the draft policy in the requisite 90 days, whereas the Urban Development Department of the state government came up with the Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Advertisement Rules 2019.

The state government had apparently cited certain inadequacies in the BBMP draft policy but did not officially revert on the same within a period of mandated 90 days. The High Court viewed that the draft policy would be deemed as approved as the state government had not acted on it in the defined timeframe.

Meantime, the Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Advertisement Rules 2019 are also set to be announced in the next 2-3 weeks after it was circulated in the public forum to obtain suggestions and feedback from the industry.

It is broadly understood that the state government rules will prevail over the policy, in such a situation. The Bengaluru OOH trade is also in support of the state rules as they include the provision for hoardings which isn’t there in the BBMP Policy.

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