Ban on all advertisements in public places for one year

All hoardings were illegal as BBMP had not renewed licence or accorded permission to any agency

August 06, 2018 11:51 pm | Updated 11:51 pm IST

Hoardings, banners, flexes, buntings, posters and even wall painting/writing — all forms of advertisements — in public places have been banned by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for a period of one year.

The BBMP council, which met on Monday to discuss the new advertisement policy, passed a resolution to this effect.

Following the rap from the High Court of Karnataka recently, the council met to discuss measures taken by the civic body to remove illegal flexes and posters, and the new advertisement policy.

‘All hoardings illegal’

BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad said as the BBMP had neither renewed the licences, nor accorded permission to any agency, all hoardings in the city were illegal. A majority of the hoardings were on private properties, he said.

The civic body will give 15 days’ time for the hoardings and the structures to be removed, failing which criminal cases would be filed against the property owners under the Karnataka Open Spaces (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1981.

Ban welcomed by all parties

Cutting across party lines, most councillors, including Ruling Party Leader M. Shivaraju and Opposition Leader Padmanabha Reddy, favoured a ban, and said they were affecting the city’s aesthetics.

The council sought more time from the high court to finalise the new advertisement policy.

Mr. Prasad claimed that since August 1, the civic body had removed 21,140 flexes across the city, apart from raiding and shutting down 65 flex printing units. A total of 13 FIRs had been filed against those who had put up the flexes illegally, he said.

Councillors want more time to finalise new advertisement policy

Admitting that none of the advertisement hoardings in the city are legal, the BBMP council on Monday said more time was needed to finalise the new advertisement policy

Cutting across party lines, councillors urged BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad to seek more time from the High Court of Karnataka.

The new policy was proposed in the 2017-18 budget by the then chairperson of the BBMP’s Standing Committee for Taxation and Finance M.K. Gunashekar. However, but for one meeting, no discussion had been held to finalise the policy.

BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad informed the council that after implementation of GST (Goods and Services Tax), the civic body could not levy advertisement tax. The court, which was hearing a case pertaining to hoardings, had been apprised that the BBMP was working on a new advertisement policy. He said the civic body would urge the high court to vacate the stays given to a few cases pertaining to advertisement hoardings.

Three types of hoardings

He explained that there were three types of hoardings - those on BBMP property, those on land owned by State and central departments, and those on private properties. A majority of the hoardings were on private properties. He claimed that of the 2,500 illegal hoardings, the civic body had removed 880. “Though we have floated a tender for the removal of the remaining hoardings, there has been no response,” he said.

He said the BBMP would give 15 days’ time to the owners of private properties to remove the hoardings and the structures. The civic body would write to the central and State departments requesting them to bring down the hoardings on their properties.

“The BBMP need not give any notice for the removal of hoardings. If the hoardings are not brought down in 15 days, we will file criminal cases against property-owners under the Karnataka Open Spaces (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1981, under which the punishment is six months’ imprisonment and/or a penalty of ₹1 lakh,” he said.

What is allowed

About the advertisements on bus shelters, skywalks and metro pillars, Mr. Prasad said as long as flex material or any other banned material is not used, the advertisements would be allowed. This, as the civic body has accorded permission for the same. These agencies will be allowed to put advertisements until the end of the prescribed term. “We will look into the memorandum of understanding signed with different agencies in this regard,” he added.

Earlier, many councillors pointed out that there were many hoardings in playgrounds, police stations, temples and even graveyards. Opposition Leader Padmanabha Reddy said that the civic body must look into the advertisement policies of other cities. He sought to know the status of the demand notices issued to various agencies amounting to ₹369 crore.

Former mayor B.S. Sathyanarayan suggested that the civic body meet with all stakeholders before finalising the new policy.

‘Give us alternatives’

Upset with the BBMP council’s resolution on a complete ban on advertisement hoardings, banners, posters and flexes, members of the Karnataka State Digital Printers and Flex Printers’ Association staged a snap protest on Monday afternoon. S.N. Krishnappa, State president of the association, told The Hindu that there were nearly 2,000 printing units in the city alone that provided direct and indirect employment to nearly 10 lakh people.

“While we welcome the council’s resolution in the light of protecting the city’s aesthetics, the BBMP cannot suddenly close down our units without giving us alternatives or allowing us time. Many units have been shut for the past four days, incurring huge losses. How are we to pay our employees?” he said.

Krishnamurthy, secretary of the association, said that the BBMP should have consulted all stakeholders before passing the resolution.

Members of the Akhila Karnataka Namaphalaka Kalaavidara Sangha opined that other States that had earlier completely banned flex had revoked it. “These days all display boards are made of flex or vinyl. The BBMP’s contention that these petrochemical materials cannot be recycled is false,” they said and added that there was a recycling unit with a six-tonne capacity that was commissioned around three years ago in Mumbai. They claimed that a proposal in this regard had been submitted to the BBMP as well.

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