CHENNAI: Hoardings and banners sticking out on the roads from medians will soon be of the past once the government implements regulations across the state under the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act (2022). Officials said that rules have been framed to ensure hoardings adhere to minimum advertising standards and do not affect visibility or traffic movement.
According to the rules, the license to install hoardings will be subject to multiple conditions, such as, independent hoardings, including the foundation, shall be checked for extreme wind conditions, soil bearing capacity, etc. and comply with relevant Indian structural design standards. Similarly, hoardings can only be mounted on the back and front panels of bus shelters and no hoardings shall be permitted on medians or that obstruct pedestrian movement or the line of sight of motorists.
The hoardings should also specify the name of the licensee, license number, its validity and contact number of the licensee on the lower right side of the hoarding. In a statement on Thursday, municipal administration minister KN Nehru stated that the regulations were formed based on a Madras High Court order that the AIADMK government had been dodging for a long time.
“The AIADMK government brought an amendment to the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Act to permit hoardings on land belonging to local bodies, which led to only a few organisations benefiting from the move,” the statement said. 500 illegal hoardings have been removed from across the state in the last six months, the statement added.
The move is expected to generate Rs 20 crore in revenue annually for Chennai Corporation. The maximum license fee for hoardings in the city corporation is Rs 6,000 per square metre per year, according to the rules. “The aim here is not to use this as a source of revenue, but to regularise the hoardings and ensure that the city is free of unauthorised or objectionable hoardings,” said a corporation official.
Guidelines for shop signages