Bengaluru: Despite concerns over visual pollution and safety, the Congress government notified a new advertisement policy for Bengaluru, effectively lifting the six-year ban on commercial hoardings in the tech capital.
Karnataka has broadly copied the New Delhi model of outdoor advertising system – one hoarding every 100 metres of the notified road. The policy hopes to yield a revenue of Rs 500 crore a year.
On Saturday, the state government issued the notification, seeking objections or suggestions from the public within 30 days.
According to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (Advertisement) Bylaws, 2024, commercial advertisements will be allowed on all roads that are wider than 60 feet. If the stretch falls in any commercial or industrial locality, there is no bar on the width. The bylaw also grants permission to install billboards around traffic intersections.
The advertisement rights on a particular road, area or circle will be licensed out through a public auction online. The bylaw has fixed the minimum rate (per square foot) based on the guidance value of the locality.
The size of the hoarding depends on the width of the road — 1,200 square feet is the maximum ad space size allowed on a 200-foot road and 3,000 sq ft of ad space is allowed in a 1 lakh sq ft of circle or an area.
For example, the minimum auction price for putting up advertisements on a 83-feet road (considering guidance value of Rs 3,000- Rs 5,000 per sq foot) will be Rs 10 lakh per month. In return, the bidder gets to display 1,000 sq ft of hoarding every 100 metres on the 2-km stretch. That is about 20,000 sq ft of advertisement space or 20 hoardings. No other person will be allowed to advertise on this stretch.
The responsibility of identifying space to erect the hoardings will be on the bidder. The bylaw has clearly stated that no hoarding will be either allowed on the public road or footpath.
The advertiser is expected to put up hoardings on private properties or government land, provided he or she has requisite agreements and permissions from the owner of the spot or building at his or her own costs.
The bylaw has also stated that the advertiser is not allowed to club two hoardings into one or erect one hoarding on the other. It is learnt that such a clause had existed even in the past (prior to the ban) but advertisers, for example at Hebbal junction, have violated it without facing any repercussions.
Considering VIP movements, the bylaw has banned advertisements on eleven roads including Kumara Krupa Road, Raj Bhavan Road, Sankey Road, Seshadri Road, Palace Road etc. Once the bylaw is notified, the government is also required to form an advertisement regulatory committee, consisting of representation from the BBMP and police, to sort out appeals of advertisers.