PANAJI
The Goa Legislative Assembly’s select committee has submitted the revised ‘The Goa Outdoor Advertisement (Regulations & Control) Bill, 2025’ to the Legislative Secretary. However, the committee has decided to seek more time to finalise the Bill, which has been renamed ‘The Goa Outdoor Hoardings Bill’.
The committee, led by Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte, submitted its preliminary report to the Legislative Secretary last week. The committee was given three months to study the Bill and suggest necessary changes.
“The committee will ask for more time as the modified version of the Bill was submitted to the members on June 25, just a day before its submission to the Secretary,” one of the members said.
Committee members include MLAs Vijai Sardesai, Carlos Ferreira, Jit Arolkar and Nilesh Cabral, who have all submitted their views and suggestions in writing.
During the Budget Session, the State government introduced ‘The Goa Outdoor Advertisement (Regulations & Control) Bill, 2025’ to appoint the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) as the authority to regulate and control the setting up and placement of outdoor advertisements across the State.
The Bill was drafted after the High Court of Bombay at Goa took suo-motu cognisance of illegal and haphazard outdoor advertisements. It proposed a ban on putting up or displaying outdoor advertisements in No Development Zones, protected areas, Khazan land, wetlands and other ecologically and archaeologically sensitive areas.
After the opposition raised concerns about flaws in the Bill, it was sent to the select committee for further study and discussion.
