The Hindu Business Line : Hoarding owners feel aggrieved by MERC ban

HOARDING owners and specialist outdoor agencies may oppose the recent move by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) to temporarily ban neon signs, illuminated hoardings during evening hours till June. The ban is on account of the ever-increasing power shortfall in Maharashtra.

The hoarding owners' association met on Thursday evening to discuss the issue, and chart out a plan of action against the ruling, which included putting up a plea to the Power Minister to reconsider his decision.

"It will affect our business, the livelihood of people who work with us like electricians, and in this process would also make a dent on the coffers of power majors such as MSEB and Reliance Energy," said Mr Altaf Sheikh from Roshan Publicity, one of the leading hoarding owners here.

For a standard 800-sq.ft hoarding, illumination cost paid to the power company per month is almost equal to the illumination cost paid to the municipal corporation for the same period. So, both parties will be affected, Mr Altaf pointed out. Last year, illumination tax amounted to Rs 35 crore per month.

There are around 4,000 hoardings in the city, and of these at least 3,500 are illuminated. Hence, any move to ban them will affect the trade in a big way, said another hoarding owner.

"Illuminated hoardings carry a 40 per cent premium over non-illuminated hoardings, and we expect many disputes to emerge with this ban," said Mr Indrajeet Sen, CEO, Primesite Communications, a division of Mudra Communications.

According to a media guide of a leading outdoor agency, on an average, hoardings cost Rs 50-800 per month. Kiosks cost Rs 1,500-12,000 per month. Hoardings on bridges cost Rs 18-21 lakh per month. Gantries cost Rs 1-3.5 lakh.

"There is no common platform between media owners and specialist agencies like us. Hence, the trade is never taken into confidence over such regulatory issues or others like heritage buildings," said Mr Jignesh Sharma, CEO, Posterscope, the oudoor agency of Percept Integrated Communications.

Around May last year, the Mumbai High Court directed the civil authorities to pull down hoardings from heritage buildings and precincts. Many hoardings were also pulled down for environmental reasons last year.

The hoarding owners had then mooted an idea of setting up an industry association to address such issues, and almost after a year, the Indian Outdoor Agencies Association is expected to roll out this month.

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