Hyderabad Fashions New Advertisement Policy For Street Ads; Height Limit Lifted
Officials said the new advertisement policy has been prepared after studying the systems in different cities across states.
Hyderabad: A new billboard advertisement policy will be introduced in the city from the next financial year. The height restrictions in force for the past six years have been lifted.
In 2020, the policy mandated that advertisement boards should stick to a maximum of 15-feet height limit. Else, a penalty of Rs 1 lakh would be imposed on the advertiser. In the new policy, this cap on the height has been lifted. This new policy will be implemented across all the three corporations — GHMC, CMC and MMC — which together are spread over 2,053 sq-km.As per the new policy, LED advertisements are allowed subject to conditions and clearances from the urban local body. The places, properties and duration of such advertisements have also been fixed. “The new policy is more transparent,” claimed an official of the municipal administration and urban development department.
"The earlier policy had made around 100 advertising agencies ineligible to participate in the tender process. The benefit went to select companies. The new policy would democratise the tender process by allowing more companies to participate,” a municipal corporation official noted.
The advertisement wing of the previous GHMC was not able to generate a revenue of even Rs 100 crore a year. The reason was the curbs on the height of advertisement elements. Another reason was a nexus between some officials and the advertising agencies/companies, the official stated. “The revenue should increase manifold once the new policy is implemented in the three corporations,” he said. Officials said the new advertisement policy has been prepared after studying the systems in different cities across states.
