Which licences does a corporate event in Mumbai need?
A corporate event in Mumbai needs music licences (PPL, IPRS and Novex) if it plays music, a one-day excise licence if it serves alcohol, and government NOCs if it is large or public. The excise licence comes from the Maharashtra State Excise Department, usually through the venue, and the NOCs cover police, traffic, fire, electrical and health.
In short
- Playing music needs music licences: PPL for recordings, IPRS for the underlying songs, and Novex for the catalogues it represents.
- Serving alcohol needs a one-day excise licence from the Maharashtra State Excise Department, usually through the venue.
- A large or public event also needs government NOCs: police and traffic, fire, electrical and health. Each city sets its own list.
Music licences
Any recorded or live music at a corporate event is a public performance in law, even when the event is invitation-only. Three bodies license most of what is played in India, and a venue will usually ask to see their licences before the event.
- Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL)
- Licenses the public performance of sound recordings for the music labels that are its members, across Hindi, regional and international catalogues.
- Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS)
- Licenses the underlying songs on behalf of authors, composers and publishers, and distributes the royalty to them.
- Novex Communications
- Licenses public performance for the film and music catalogues it represents. Which catalogue a song belongs to decides whether a Novex licence is needed.
Which licences you need depends on the playlist and the live acts, so ICE India checks the music plan with the DJ and performers before applying.
Serving alcohol
Serving alcohol at a function in Maharashtra needs a one-day licence from the Maharashtra State Excise Department. Hotels and banquet venues registered with the department usually apply for it on the organiser's behalf; outdoor and non-hotel venues need it arranged separately.
Maharashtra also requires individuals to hold a permit to buy or consume liquor, and venues may issue one-day permits to guests. Check the current rules with the venue, as they change.
Government permissions and NOCs
Depending on the venue, the scale and whether tickets are sold, an event may need permissions from several departments. A hotel ballroom event often needs fewer of these than an open-air or public event.
- Collector's office
- An entertainment NOC for an invitation-only event.
- Police and traffic
- Premises and performance licences from the police, and a traffic NOC where parking or road use is affected.
- Fire brigade
- A fire NOC covering the stage, structures, power and exits.
- Electrical inspector
- Clearance for temporary power, generators and stage electrics.
- Health department
- Clearance for food service at the venue, where it applies.
- Rangabhumi Parinirikshan Mandal
- The Maharashtra board that certifies staged performances, where a show is performed live.
How long it takes and who applies
Most permissions are applied for two to four weeks before the event and need the venue's consent, the event layout and the performer list. The event company normally applies and pays, and the cost appears in the quote as one line, licences and permissions.
ICE India handles these as part of every event it runs in Mumbai, and sets the requirements for other cities, where the list differs, during planning.
See these permissions at work in the Footsteps 4 Good charity run, the AllCargo customer evening and the J L Morison rewards event. Event logistics covers the movement of people on the day.
