The Indian Express   30.08.2012

Outdoor ad policy pending state nod, corporators want licence renewed

Citing revenue loss owing to non-renewal of licence for billboards, with a set of laws for outdoor ads passed by the Pune Municipal Corporation two years ago pending approval of the state government, political parties are now putting pressure on the PMC administration to renew licence of hoardings instead of waiting for the state government nod.

The new regulations had been passed by the PMC to improve the skyline scarred by posters, billboards sprouting up in every available space.

At a recent meeting of party leaders, Mayor Vaishali Bankar raised the issue. “PMC is losing revenue as licences are not being renewed. Therefore, the civic administration should start giving permission to allow existing hoardings,” she said.

The mayor’s demand was backed by leaders of most political parties, barring a few corporators who argued that implementation of the policy was in the interest of civic body as it would generate a much higher revenue.

The civic administration, meanwhile, clarified that permission can be given only if the hoardings met certain conditions laid down in the new policy and said no hoarding fits the bill as of now.

“PMC would get six times the revenue if the policy is implemented. Therefore, allowing ads ignoring the policy would lead to a financial loss for the civic body,” Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Pathak told the party leaders.

In the civic general body meeting, the civic chief had urged corporators to urge the state government to approve the policy so that it is implemented with immediate effect.

The civic administration had floated tenders for ads as per the policy and said it had received a “good response” with assurance of six-times the normal revenue. The Outdoor Hoarding Association had taken the civic body to court against the decision and the civic administration could not issue work orders to agencies that were to get the contract.

In its amended policy, the civic administration has divided the PMC into 116 units for outdoor advertisements. It proposes “no hoarding zones” in various pockets and restrictions on hoardings and banners within 200 metres of schools, colleges, hospitals and police stations.

The look of the city roads lined by hoardings and banners on both sides will change once the policy comes into effect, as a gap of at least 20 metres has been proposed between two hoardings. No hoarding will be allowed perpendicular to the road, officials said.

All hoardings will be parallel to roads and will have a maximum tilt of 30 degrees so as to not distract drivers. The trend of “building roofs” for hoardings will also be stopped. The policy would also check advertising campaigns on roads and use of public address systems for advertisements.