BHUBANESWAR: Struggling to deal with unauthorised hoardings in the capital city, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued a fresh notification making it clear that promotional posters or billboards put up by any individual or establishment other than the designated advertising agencies will be considered illegal and subjected to hefty fine.
As per the BMC notification which was issued recently, four advertising agencies have been finalised for displaying advertisement hoardings within the jurisdiction of the civic body.
Jagannath Add, Oripower Solutions Pvt Ltd, Iconic Media and Star Advertising Pvt Ltd have been placed under category I advertisers for display of hoardings in the city. Similarly, Oripower Solutions and Star Advertising have been selected as advertisers under category II for display of advertisements other than hoardings in the city.
Any individual or establishment intending to display advertisements within the BMC territory will have to approach one of the above agencies else the same will be deemed unauthorised and subject to immediate removal apart from the fine, said the BMC notification.
Display of the name of a shop or commercial establishment, however, will not come under the purview of the notification and will be allowed by the BMC on the basis of application and payment of licence fee.
A BMC official said violators will be penalised as per the provision of the BMC Advertisement Regulations, 2006 to prevent public nuisance and loss of revenue. Apart from issuing demand notice, FIR will also be registered against the violator if required, he said. The civic body is earning around `10 crore to `12 crore annually towards advertisement tax on both public and private lands in its jurisdiction.