Here is the story so far:
Billboards, which had been prohibited for a period of six years are about to make a return to the streets of Bengaluru. The Urban Development Department (UDD) has recently issued a draft of the new Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) (Advertisement) Bylaws, 2024, which allows hoardings across the city albeit in a more regulated manner.
Why were hoardings banned?
Earlier, although the municipal body had advertising bylaws requiring permission for outdoor advertising within the city limits, they were not enforced strictly enough. For instance, upon hearing a Public Interest Litigation on illegal hoardings in Bengaluru, the High Court of Karnataka gave several deadlines to remove illegal hoardings to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and berated it for its lack of accomplishments.
In November 2017, M.K. Gunashekhar then Chairman BBMP Standing Committee on Taxation and Finance admitted that maintaining aesthetics and revenue collection through ad bye-laws were not being achieved concurrently. He had put blame on provision called deemed permission in the bylaw where if an application was not acted upon within 45 days it was deemed approved leading to mushrooming hoardings in town midsize cities. In this regard BBMP started amending this particular provision under Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act 1976.
However, at that time government went ahead and banned all billboards except those in PPP projects such as skywalks or toilets built by private companies but used for commercial advertisements. Besides these skywalks and toilet blocks built by private companies in partnership with BBMP for commercial advertisement space, no other form of commercial advertisement shall be permitted under these guidelines., The BBMP Outdoor Advertisement and Public Message Bylaws-2018 bans all forms of commercial advertisement from any other part of Bangalore City.
Why bring back ad hoardings?
However, banning all forms of commercial outdoor advertising in a metropolis such as Bangalore was not sustainable because it killed a large industry and deprived the city’s civic body of a major source of revenue. Many called for bringing back advertisements in a regulated form. The High Court of Karnataka also refused to impose a blanket ban on hoardings in the city in January 2024.
Subsequent to this, the state government has now issued the Draft Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) (Advertisement) Bylaws, 2024 that suggest bringing outdoor advertising back albeit in very regulated terms.
How are various concerns about ads addressed
Some of the main issues concerning outdoor advertisement within town have been resolved by these draft laws. For example, advertising on roads with less than 60 feet wide is prohibited except for commercial and industrial focal points. It outlaws any kind of advertising on trees, streetlights and electric poles.
Advertising abutting public roads will be banned under these laws as well as within 50 feet from a traffic signal on all arms of the signal and within 50 metres from any place of worship. Even though video advertising would not be allowed, it also puts restrictions on neon lights too.
To begin with, there is a draft of the bylaws which forms an Advertisement Regulatory Committee under the control of Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department who will determine city’s larger ad policy. The Chief Civic Commissioner on the other hand will decide which roads can have outdoor advertisements In the city.
However this is where only such ads shall be permitted at and no other areas within the jurisdiction. Also, it explicitly prohibits any form of outdoor advertising in Vidhana Soudha, state’s administrative nerve centre as provided for in these draft bye-laws.
“BBMP has to divide up whole city into suitable stretches of roads circles/areas..The paid advertisement should be only allowed in specified locations..The power to do paid advertisements on these road stretches, circles and areas shall also vest with licensed advertising agencies through open auction/tender according to KTP Act 1999,” report the draft bye-laws.
According to these BY-LAWs, every 100 metres of such notified stretches shall have advertisements placed. For roads however the maximum hoarding size is restricted to ’40×20’ feet per a stretch of 100 meters (combining length along both sides) whereas at circles they are limited horizontally to not more than 60 feet. There will be an online tendering process for awarding advertisement rights, according to these draft bye-laws.
For instance unlike past instances it allows Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and various other government organizations to let out spaces for advertising purposes. As a result from now own Metro as well as BMTC can enter into separate contracts for advertising on metro pillars or stations including bus stands among others.
Another feature of the new Draft Bylaws is that all outdoor advertisements must bear a QR code that displays licensee details upon scanning; it says that any billboards lacking QR codes would be treated as unauthorized.
How revenue generation is envisaged
The draft bylaws that determine the minimum ground rent for advertising between ₹40 – ₹110/sqft on a slab of land depending upon the guidance value of the locality, which may go up further in the auction/tender process. This would be many times higher than what was prescribed earlier before ban on hoardings. All other government branches including Hoardings and billboards still have to negotiate with these ad agencies who then will approach individual property owners to have their own signage posted on them.
This will also involve a fee for advertisements from these properties over and above their property tax. This will simply mean that advertisers will have to dig deeper into their pockets. The Outdoor’s Advertising Association Bengaluru has strongly opposed the high advertisement fees, saying that this would effectively put paid to outdoor advertising if not reduced.
How enforcement is going to work
The draft bylaws stipulate stringent measures including not only removal of illegal hoardings but also blacklisting such advertising agencies, booking criminal cases against them and imposing heavy penalties on those who own properties with illegal hoardings as well as those printing them. Another highlight of the new draft bylaws is that all outdoor advertisements should have a QR code which when scanned should display information about the licensee; any hoarding without a QR Code will be treated as unauthorized.
While the State government is still awaited to release the final notification relating to new regulations governing advertising, High Court in Karnataka has compelled civic bodies to act upon illegal hoardings and other outdoor advertisings within its jurisdiction.
Nudge from High Court got system cracking
After the collapse of a giant billboard at Mumbai in March 2024 which killed 16 people and injured over 75 others, two buildings were brought down by wind with billboards attached to them in Bangalore too. The next day after the Mumbai accident, a metallic structure used for putting up a billboard collapsed in Whitefield but nobody was hurt.
But on first week of July in Rajanukunte outskirts of Bangalore again, such an incident occurred when he collapsed beneath it and left him being taken into intensive care unit (ICU) because there was no capacity doing so more than his granddaughter survived while she had been playing near her grandpa during this incident until another one happened immediately next day at first they expected it was caused by catastrophic wind but it turned out it was just because of some human error.
The same day, i.e., July 12, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice N.V. Anjaria and Justice K.V. Aravind took suo motu cognisance of the accident reported by a newspaper. The High Court of Karnataka has initiated contempt proceedings against the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Commissioner and City Police Commissioner for their failure to act on its order and prevent unauthorized hoardings stating that “the accident signifies sorry state of affairs despite the court passing several orders to prevent erection of illegal hoardings”, bench further remarked, ”installation of such hoardings in defiance of court orders” is “brazen violation”, the court said.
This nudge spurred the system into action. BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath and City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda held multiple meetings and chalked out an action plan to crackdown on illegal hoardings in the city.
The civic body has now dedicated a Prahari vehicle, for patrolling for each of the eight zones in the city. With support from police officials from all 100 over all police stations across Bangalore, each police station will appoint a nodal officer whose responsibility it will be identified removed such illegal billboards as well as file charges against those responsible.
Meanwhile, efforts have been made by the municipal authorities to cut off supply side chain for illegal hoardings and outdoor advertising within their jurisdiction.
Even Mr. Giri Nath has given a directive that the client’s printers of flex, banners and hoardings will have to collect permission letters from BBMP for outdoor media they print. The municipality expects this in its efforts to prevent printing of illegal advertisements in the city. The civic body warned that any printer who defies this order will lose his business license.
Direction of reforms are welcomed by industry
The Industry however welcomes the direction of the reforms and regulations on outdoor advertising in Bangalore as stated earlier. “There is some common movement apparent in these new rules which may be seen as an attempt at clarity. It has been made online and it will be open to public,” said Manmohan Singh, Secretary of Outdoor Advertising Association Bengaluru. “We hope that together with other initiatives taken up by the municipal authorities, this will help straighten out things within our sector; which should only spell good news for bona fide players operating under a cloud of suspicion thrown up by fly-by-night operators.”
