Ban on billboards lifted a decade later Delhi to see a planned boom in outdoor advertising
After a decade, again Delhi
has been allowed to place
billboards officially. The
Supreme Court of India recently
approved a policy about the same,
withdrawing the ban on billboards
in the capital. It is a good
news for advertisers who are
always looking for innovative
opportunities through outdoor
media. Outdoor advertising
community who were hard
pressed since a blanket ban on
these billboards was imposed on
the plea that this becomes traffic
hazard and instrumental towards
road accidents, and also for
Municipal Corporation of Delhi
(MCD) that will get ten times
more revenue every year.
The apex court’s approval to the
recommendations of the
Environment Pollution Control
Authority (EPCA), which
okayed the MCD’s outdoor
advertisement policy with certain
guidelines, paves the way for
billboards to come back to areas
administrated by the New Delhi
Municipal Council, the
cantonment area and railway land.
However, the new policy
disallows hoardings near
cremation grounds and along all
arterial stretches, viz Ring Road;
and rooftop hoardings. Besides, to
avoid road accidents, billboards
on unipoles will be placed at a
distance of 50 m from red lights
and intersections.
The new policy is
more productive
for Municipal
Corporation of
Delhi (MCD) as it
will receive
around Rs 400
crore annually
against forty
crore at present.
MCD is on its
way to introduce
the concept of
using outdoor advertisement
through street furniture, public
amenities of the city such as
railway carriages, buses,
commercial passenger vehicles,
bus que shelters, public garbage
facilities and public toilets.
It is the first comprehensive
outdoor advertising policy, which
could be a model for other cities
in India.
With the ban being lifted on
billboards in Delhi, the
companies looking for outdoor
advertising of their products and
brands shall not have to just
depend on adverting on public
toilets and the band of bus
que shelters.
