FIR registered against firm for violating digital hoarding rules

MUMBAI: The police have registered a First Information Report against three firms--Signpost, Mantray Media Entertainment Ltd and BNH Traders--for erecting hoardings along the Western Express Highway that breached the permissible levels of lux (a standard measure of light level intensity) and streamed videos that caused disturbance to drivers.

The traffic police issues No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to hoardings with a lux of up to 97.5, but the hoardings in question exceeded the limit, officials said.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had set up a committee under IIT-Bombay in May 2024 to study the brightness limit for digital hoardings. Though the committee is yet to submit its report, it said prima facie, hoardings should not be so bright that they hurt drivers’ eyes, a senior traffic official said.

The FIR was registered by the Airport police station based on a complaint by police constable Amol Khandagle, 37, attached with the Vakola traffic division. Khandagle and his team found that the hoardings measuring 40x40ft, located in three different spots, were excessively bright and displayed videos, which are not permitted.

One hoarding, owned by BNH Traders, was located near Sahara Star Hotel along the south-bound lane of Western Express Highway while the second, owned by Signpost, was located at Bhajiwadi along the highway. The third hoarding, owned by Mantray Media, was located in Vile Parle, in the Flora Marble premises along the highway’s south-bound lane.

“We recorded videos of the hoardings for evidence,” said a police officer. While all three hoarding firms have NOCs, they have violated the terms and conditions, he added.

Senior inspector Sandeep Yele from the Vakola traffic division said the traffic police rely on complaints by citizens to act on bright lights emitted by digitised hoardings.

“The lights here are so bright that they hurt drivers’ eyes when they see it. NOCs from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the traffic police specify that videos are not allowed to be played on hoardings. But in the cases here, the hoardings were playing videos, which distracts drivers,” he said.

The management and officials of Signpost, Mantray Media and Entertainment Ltd, and BNH Traders have been booked under section 223 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Traffic police divisions all over the city have been asked to check for hoardings that hinder vehicle drivers’ concentration, said an officer.