HYDERABAD: In a startling revelation, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has stumbled on the fact that 151 hoardings belonging to various advertising agencies have come up in the heart of the city without either the knowledge or the clearance of the corporation and evading advertising tax to the tune of several lakh of rupees.

As per rules, the GHMC allots one number per hoarding and the ad agency pays the annual advertising tax accordingly. "However, for the last several years, the agencies have been using one permitted number to install several hoardings. And while they pay the corporation advertising tax for only one hoarding, they are actually making money in crores of rupees through the additional illegal hoardings," said an official. Most of the unauthorized hoardings have come up in prime locations like Ameerpet, Khairtabad, Abids, Dilsukhnagar and other city core areas. Officials suspect some staffers of the corporation are hand in glove with the advertising agencies in the scam.

The scam came to light recently when the GHMC started allotting a unique Advertising Identification Number (AIN) to each permitted hoarding under its limits. Under the recently evolved system, the advertising agencies should display the AIN number (AIN) on the hoarding along with details like the name of the agency, location and size of the hoardings etc.

"In the old system, the advertising agencies need not display the permitted number on that hoarding. Once we computerized the records and generated one AIN number per hoarding, we found that some agencies have been using one permitted number for all unauthorized hoardings located in different areas and thus avoiding paying the advertising tax to the municipal corporation," a senior GHMC official said.

GHMC is contemplating action against the agencies which have erected these unauthorised hoardings. "The corporation will soon lodge a criminal case against the defaulting agencies besides imposing a fine and blacklisting them as per the act," GHMC additional commissioner (advt) G D Priya Darshini said on Tuesday. The additional commissioner said a meeting with all advertising agencies will be held soon where it would be made clear to them that within a month, all the permitted hoardings should display the AIN allotted to them.

Officials said there are about 2,600 hoardings in the city and the illegal ones could number another 2,000. In the GHMC council meeting held in May 2012, former deputy mayor Jaffer Hussain raised the issue of unauthorized hoardings and even demanded that the city be made 'hoarding free' on the lines of Chennai. While the total advertising tax revenue is Rs 30 crore per annum, the revenue through hoarding amounts to Rs 15 crore per annum. Earlier, several irregularities were identified such as erecting hoarding at prime location when permission was granted for other place, increased size of the hoardings than permitted,

irregular advertising tax payments etc.In the council meeting, officials claimed that 419 unauthorised hoardings were removed in the city.