BENGALURU: Although hoardings could be a good money spinner for BBMP, with a potential to earn Rs 500 crore, the inflow to Palike exchequer is poor, thanks to apathy and inability of its officials.
For the last four years, the revenue from the advertisement has been earning a pittance due to delay in implementing the required law and finalising tariffs.
Despite the direction from the high court, the ruling BJP took at least three years to implement the new advertisement by-law and till date it has not finalized the new advertisement rates. That being the case, the advertisement agencies are getting away by paying old tariff.
The issue of finalising the advertisement fee was deferred in the last council meet. Because of these delays the civic body is being denied much needed revenue and it also shows the ruling BJP’s apathy. The city is dotted with over 2,000 huge hoardings, most of them illegal, which have become an eyesore and are spoiling the aesthetics of Garden city.
Officials from revenue, advertisement and legal section of all the BBMP zonal offices have connived with advertisement mafia and inflicted huge revenue loss to the BBMP. Apart from pulling down such hoardings, money should be recovered from the officials and agencies responsible, said M. K. Gunashekar, Jayamahal Corporator.
Scores of hoardings are in place due to stay orders and the BBMP legal section has been lethargic in getting the stay vacated.
The agencies are even allowed to display a single stay number at different hoardings. Despite stay order, the agencies are allowed to change the display of advertisements on hoardings.
Gunashekar suggested that in the interest of BBMP’s financial position, the right to display hoardings must be either auctioned or a tender must be called for to get competitive bidders. Premium price should be fixed at certain locations, he added.
Though pole advertisements have been banned in the city, they are present everywhere. Advertisement rights have been given even for chairs that have been allowed on some footpaths, which spoils the beauty, Mr Gunashekar remarked.
Additional Commissioner (advertisement) K. Hemaji Nayak told Deccan Chronicle that around 1,000 unauthorised hoardings have been detected in the city and a drive to remove them has already begun.
Besides removing such hoardings, cases will be filed against violators under Karnataka Open Place (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act 1981. As far as revenue is concerned, once the council finalises the price the advertisement wing can collect the new fee. Till then the agencies will be paying the old price, he said.
Till date, 1017 unauthorised hoardings, flexes and other advertisements have been removed across eight BBMP zones.
