BMC appoints Dr Vipin Sharma as Additional Municipal Commissioner; assigns advtg dept

In an interesting development, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has a change of guard at a time when it is in the midst of finalizing the new policy for the Out-of-Home advertising industry. 

On September 2, BMC issued a circular (e4m has a copy) detailing the new allocation of departments under each of the four Additional Municipal Commissioners' (AMCs) jurisdictions.

Dr. Vipin Sharma, who assumed the role of AMC on August 31, succeeding Sudhakar Shinde, has been assigned 13 departments, including the one which deals with “advertising.” Notably, this department was not under Shinde who Dr Sharma replaced, but was under Dr Joshi who continues to be the AMC. 

Coincidentally, e4m reported on September 2 morning that the Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) is considering legal recourse against BMC, arguing that the current policy remains valid until 2031.

There are three more AMCs handling various portfolios of the city management—Dr Ashwini Joshi (Mumbai city), Dr Amit Saini (Eastern suburbs) and Dr Abhijeet Bangar (Projects). Besides a broader portfolio assignment, these AMCs also handle over three dozen departments that oversee various establishments in the commercial capital. 

Some media owners view this change as a “moral victory.” They have been vocal against the proposed policy, arguing that it has been formulated without adequate stakeholder consultation and in reaction to the Ghatkopar incident. e4m has extensively covered their concerns.

Last month, media owners also sought a meeting with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Although the BMC had not yet released the draft policy at that time, their proposals and concerns were reported by e4m in a series of articles.

When approached for comment, a BMC official described the change as a “routine” administrative adjustment and advised against reading too much into it.