Opposition protests bill to regulate outdoor ads and hoardings

Panaji: The select committee that has been constituted to discuss the Goa Outdoor Advertisement (Regulations & Control) Bill, 2025, met on Wednesday at Porvorim. While the opposition demanded that state govt should reconsider the need for the bill, tourism minister Rohan Khaunte said that the legislation is required to regulate advertisements, hoardings and other signage that is erected in the state.
Goa Forward Party president and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai asked how outdoor hoardings could be brought under the Entertainment Society of Goa. “This bill was introduced without any thought or work put into it. Even the minister agrees with us. This was discussed, and it was unanimously decided that govt has to do a rethink. We will also submit our opinion,” he said.
The bill follows a 2007 order of the high court of Bombay at Goa to regulate roadside hoardings.
“At the meeting, we showed how the bill is against the interests of the people. It will trouble people as they will need registration and permission for small advertisements. Govt said that it is as per the high court’s order, so I told govt to show us the high court order. The high court order expressed concern about large hoardings on the side of the highways,” said Congress Aldona MLA Carlos Ferreira.
Sardesai said govt woke up after 17 years but failed to consider panchayats and municipal bodies, which will lose a source of revenue.
Ferreira said that the opposition will support govt if the legislation aims to regulate only the large hoardings. However, he put a rider saying that the legislation should not usurp the powers of the panchayats.
“This is a backdoor attempt by an advertising agency to grab this business and to take control of advertisements across the state,” he said.
The tourism minister said, “We are a tourism state; we need to regulate these advertisements because some of them hamper tourism. Signage and hoardings need to be regulated. At the same time, we need to deliberate on the issues raised by the opposition. We have asked all the members to give their inputs, and we will deliberate on those inputs.”