Mumbai: BMC likely to offer rebate to advertisers to set up digital hoardings – The Indian Express

A minimum rebate of 5 to 7 per cent could be given to advertisers, said a civic official, who requested anonymity because the formula of compensation has not yet been approved.

“Since the process of replacing old billboards with new digital system is costly, we have decided to give advertisers a compensation on the fees charged by BMC.

This is being done to encourage them to take up the initiative of replacing their old billboards without losing out on revenue. The formula of compensation is being sent to the municipal commissioner and will be approved soon,” said Sanjog Kabre, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Special).

Advertising billboards and hoardings can be seen across arterial roads and highways in Mumbai. These hoardings are set up by private advertising agencies and in return, they pay convenience fees to BMC. Civic officials said BMC earns Rs 1.75 lakh from each adverstisement billboard every month and Rs 2.4 lakh from each digital hoarding per month.

The civic body has proposed setting up digital hoardings across the city under its Mumbai Beautification Plan. Civic officials said there are only eight to nine digital hoardings in Mumbai at present and all other hoardings are conventional billboards.

According to the BMC’s plan, it has decided to transform all existing billboards into digital hoardings in the next three months. Civic officials said it is being done to ensure that the city is illuminated well.

Kabre said there is a chance of generating higher profits through digital hoardings since each hoarding has the capacity to display six different advertisement per day. He said this is one reason why the tax rate imposed on digital hoardings is more than on conventional ones.

“Between each advertisement there will be a gap of 10 seconds. This will be done so that the change in display lights doesn’t distract the motorists. The brightness and contrast level of the hoardings will also be monitored and we will be taking a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the traffic police before officially opening any digital hoardings,” Kabre said.