GHMC announces service centric OOH ad plans

In the midst of the OOH clash between OOH media owners and the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has announced their plans to allow service-based outdoor advertisements. According to government officials, advertisements on amenities that serve community purposes will be permitted instead of outdoor sites solely displaying commercial advertisements.

As per the new announcement, advertisement placement will be permitted on public toilets, bus shelters and other public utilities. Also, advertisers will have to allot 10% of the overall ad space for promotions and public service announcements for 10% of the time in a year.

It is learnt that the administration is working on implementation of the new regulations, however no formal communication has been sent to the industry as yet.

The new announcement was issued by the Department of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) under Government Orders (GO) no 68 relating to the safety of pedestrians.

The matter is being dealt with by the High Court of Telangana and the final outcome is still awaited by the regional industry, which expects that there will either be some amendments to the policy or that it will be abolished.

In the prior hearing, the apex body of law imposed a stay on the display of sites restricted by the new law. Moreover, close to 300-400 rooftop sites and unipoles were removed following the orders of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, citing safety reasons.