Urban development department secretary S. Siddharth has served a showcause notice on Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) seeking explanation from it for non-implementation of the newly framed advertisement regulations.

The lapse led to an estimated loss of Rs 8 crore over the past two months. The regulations, which mainly deal with hoardings, prescribe norms regarding permission for advertisements, zoning of different areas for advertisement purpose, rates for advertisement space.

Siddharth said: “The department had approved the Patna Municipal Corporation (Grant of Permission for Display of Advertisement & Similar Devices), 2012, in August this year. However, the regulations have not yet been implemented. So, I have asked the civic body to furnish reasons for the delay and to take corrective steps at the earliest.”

On August 13 this year, the urban development department approved the advertisement regulations.

In response to the showcause notice, senior civic officials said the regulations could not be implemented because it has not been approved and adopted by the PMC board.

“The PMC board needs to approve the regulations before they are adopted. They were expected to be tabled in the last PMC board meeting but were not, owing to technical reasons,” said a civic official.