Even as the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has launched a campaign against defacement, the civic body will allow advertisement hoardings and billboards that had been prohibited in the city for the last two years.
After the licenses issued for advertisement hoardings and billboards across the city were misused, leading to not only a loss of revenue to the civic body, but also marring the beauty of the environment, the MCC had, in April 2015, decided to stop renewing the existing licenses or issuing fresh licenses. However, the civic body is now planning to come out with a new advertisement policy.
New outdoor policy
“We will unveil a new outdoor advertisement policy for the city in the coming MCC Budget,” said K.V. Mallesh, chairperson of the civic body’s Standing Committee on Taxation, Finance and Appeals. The rules of outdoor advertising, however, will keep in mind the city’s heritage and aesthetics, he assured.
No more misuse
Mayor Ravi Kumar said the MCC would also ensure that the licenses were not misused. He said that the licenses issued earlier had been grossly misused with the licensee putting up several hoardings across the city after attaining permission for just one hoarding. In several instances, the size of the advertisement hoardings or billboards had been found to be increased several folds.
In 2015, the MCC also witnessed its revenue from outdoor advertisements plummet, prompting authorities to prohibit hoardings and billboards across the city. Mr. Kumar, however, said the MCC would ensure that advertisement hoardings will be streamlined and the licensees stick to the stipulations of their respective licenses.
Poster-free Mysuru
The MCC’s proposed outdoor advertisement policy will also complement the poster-free Mysuru endeavour, the Mayor said. Referring to the menace of film posters, he said the corporation would earmark suitable space for the same so that the indiscriminate pasting of posters comes to a halt.
