Patna, March 17: Large billboards beside the capital streets are aplenty but they do not add a penny to the revenue of Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC). With the contribution of outdoor advertisement agencies to its funds being a big zero for the past two years, the civic body is planning a crackdown on them.

The civic body has scrapped its contract with all the outdoor ad agencies. They could be blacklisted as well.

After budget, it would pull down around 900 billboards. The employees hand-in-glove with the agencies would also face action.

Mayor Afzal Imam said: “The agencies have not been paying any fee to the civic body violating the norms. We decided to bring down about 900 billboards in the corporation board meeting in December last year. We will execute our decision after the PMC budget is tabled next week. The civic body has started the process to issue notices to the defaulting agencies.”

Imam said PMC had cancelled the contracts of all the outdoor advertisement agencies associated with it. No fresh deals have been struck so far, he said.

The mayor said several advertisement agencies had put up 8-10 billboards but were paying charges for only a couple of them.

“There are many agencies which have not paid the rentals for several years but have several roadside billboards across the city. Large-scale irregularities have also been found in allotting the deals. We are trying to identify the errant officials who allowed these advertisers to put up billboards without paying the requisite fee. We are on a clean-up drive and action will be taken against them as soon as their connivance is proved,” the mayor said.

A PMC official said: “The audit revealed that the advertisement agencies, in connivance with some of our officials, dealt a bloody blow to the civic body. They caused losses to the tune of Rs 2.14 crore in the revenue to the PMC. A vigilance case is on in this regard.”

From 2007, the advertisement agencies are charged at the rate of Rs 70 per sqft for the billboards on the government land.

The fee for hoardings on private lands is Rs 10 per sqft.

The civic body offers concession to agencies willing to hire these hoardings for longer periods.

According to the details available, agencies hiring billboards for a period of five years at a stretch is entitled to 35 per cent rebate.

Senior officials in the agency said the civic body was planning to divide the city into various zones and set flexible advertising rates to jack up its revenue. Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation practises it.

“For now, we are adhering to the old pattern of having just one rate for the entire city. But different advertising rates for different areas may be introduced soon. It is not a very bright idea to charge same rates from advertisement agencies for putting up billboards at Kankerbagh and Dakbungalow road area,” said an official.