The Statesman 20.06.2013
KMC asks ad agencies to clear arrears
Corporation (KMC) has asked advertisement agencies to clear the arrears
at the earliest.
A meeting was held at KMC headquarters
yesterday where senior civic officials and representatives of
advertising agencies were present.
Mr Debashis Kumar, member,
mayor in council, in-charge of advertisement, said many outdoor
advertisement agencies are not paying KMC taxes. They take space and pay
only a part of the advertisement fee. The remaining amount keep on
accumulating and the total dues from the advertising agencies would be
around Rs 65 crore. Mr Kumar said representatives of many officials of
advertising agencies told him they had been sent inflated bills and
asked to pay money for the hoardings which they could not put up. He
said all such errors would be rectified but the agencies would have to
clear their dues.
Meanwhile, representatives of outdoor
advertisement agencies said despite requests the state government is yet
to frame any advertisement policy where sizes of billboards would be
specified. They said just because of the instruction from the chief
minister billboards were removed from the heritage zone and from the
proposed green corridor. The advertisers who had their hoardings in
these areas were told they would be adequately compensated. But the
assurance was not kept and they have not got any suitable place to put
up their billboards.
