To Wrap or Not to Wrap

The civic body’s decision to curb wall wraps in Delhi has thrown up a few imponderables for the industry.

- Rajiv Raghunath

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s stringent steps to curb wall wraps in Delhi has raked up mixed views on the issue. While one dominant viewpoint suggests that the civic body’s actions are arbitrary and hurting small advertisers and industry players in particular, the other dominant viewpoint suggests that the regulatory steps to streamline outdoor advertising norms should be adhered to for long-term benefits.

What is often termed as unauthorised media itself is being questioned. Ajay Gupta, Secretary of Delhi Outdoor Advertising Association (DOAA) and head of Number One Advertising & Marketing Co., states that the civic body has failed in its interpretation of what is legal media and what may be termed as “illegal”. He asserts that the OAP 2007 provides for permissions to be granted to a gamut of outdoor media formats and does not specify any particular media placement norms. The civic body, in his view, has seized upon some of the gaps in the interpretation of the provision of grant of permissions in order to place curbs on particular media formats like wall wraps. Hence, while the civic body is arbitrarily deeming some media as unauthorised in the absence of grant of permission, such steps have caused “uncertainty in the trade”, he reckons.

Referring to a Delhi High Court order of May 6, 2016 that principally galvanised the civic body to root out wall wrap media in the city, Gupta asks how the media was in existence for a good 5-6 years and how tax revenues from the same were being collected if the format was not consistent with the outdoor policy.