The neon sign boards illuminating the shop facades and partially contributing to the streetlighting along the roads, lanes and by-lanes of the city are taxable, and probably illegal in most cases for default in payment of tax.
GHMC Act has provisions against the illuminated sign boards displayed without permission of the Commissioner. The permission would be granted upon payment of advertisement fee as determined from time to time.
The fact becomes topical because GHMC has started issuing notices to select commercial establishments for payment of advertisement fee on glow signs and illuminated display boards.
“As per the Act, the illuminated boards are taxable, hence we have started issuing notices. If the sign is not illuminated, there will be no need to pay the fee,” shared an official.
Sections 420 and 421 of the Act prohibit the display of sky signs, which are defined as electric display signs visible against the sky from some point in any street. All the illuminated name boards atop or attached to the shops fall under this definition, making the owners liable for payment of prescribed fee.
The fee is calculated based on the location of the commercial establishment. If the shop is on the road passed by the Metro Rail, it will fall under the Category S, which makes it attract a fee of ₹1,250 per square metre per annum. All other stretches are divided into categories A, B and C, with the fee fixed at ₹1,000, ₹750 and ₹600 per square metre respectively.
Though the charges are clearly mentioned on the GHMC website, no efforts have been made so far towards enforcement.
“To begin with, we are issuing notices to all public sector units and banks. We may extend it to include all commercial establishments in future,” an official informed.
About 100 notices have been issued for the past one month, he said.
Advertisement revenue for GHMC is not much to speak of when compared with the revenue from property tax collections and building permission fee. During the previous financial year, the Corporation garnered ₹18 crore by way of advertisement fee.
