KOCHI: The city corporation which has been postponing the installation of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system to track hoardings will finally implement it.
The civic body will soon conduct an adalat to regularise unlicenced hoardings in the city and to start installation of the RFID system in all display boards.
The RFID system including a reader and an electronic tag attached to the billboard will help to electronically tag each publicity material.
Though the civic authorities had procured RFID chips worth Rs 35 lakhs from KELTRON more than a year back, its installation had been put on the backburner.
Agencies which have been paying advertisement tax to the civic body for the last two years can regularise their hoardings by paying a fine as stipulated in the advertisement bylaw.
“Of the more than 1,000 hoardings within the city limits, there are more than 100 unlicenced boards which have been regularly paying tax. These billboards will be regularised if the agencies are ready to pay a fine. While the licences will be issued, the advertisers will be asked to pay Rs 8,000 for installing RFID chips on display boards and to clear the default tax amount. The civic body will be able to keep track of all the hoardings through the new system and it will also help to plug revenue loss caused by illegal publicity materials,” said K.J Sohan, corporation town planning committee chairman.
The new system will strengthen the corporation exchequer as all publicity materials, irrespective of their size and location, will be brought under the tax bracket.
After the local body started directly collecting advertisement tax from advertisers there has been a significant increase in the tax.
Earlier, when the right to collect tax was entrusted to private agencies, the average collection per year was only Rs 50 lakhs whereas it increased to the range of Rs 3 crore to Rs 3.50 crore.
