![]() |
An illegal hoarding in Patna. Telegraph picture |
Patna, Dec. 12: The civic body has started despatching individual demand notices to advertisement agencies for outstanding dues against billboards on display after its public notice failed to make any impact on the defaulters.
About eight days ago, Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) had issued a notice threatening to pull down all illegal hoardings in the city because the advertising agencies had not been paying the requisite fee to the corporation.
PMC commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pal said: “The agencies have not paid anything to the corporation after the rates were revised four years ago. Their contention is that the state government has not ratified the new rates yet. They have to pay us as soon as they get the notices. Else, we will remove the hoardings.”
Civic officials claimed that the crackdown had been planned taking into count the irregularity in payment by the advertisement agencies. According to sources, PMC has identified illegal 900 hoardings. They would be pulled down. The actual number of billboards could be higher, though.
The PMC board had decided to remove all the illegal billboards and hoardings across the city in December last year. But till date, the civic body has failed to bring down a single billboard.
Sources said PMC’s own report on revenue collection revealed that not a penny had been earned from the advertisers in the past four years.
“According to records, there are 125 hoardings in the corporation area on government land and 676 on private land or buildings. There is no count of unauthorised billboards even though there are hundreds,” said a civic official.
He added: “It has come to light through audit that the advertisement agencies, in connivance with some of our officials, have caused losses to the tune of Rs 5 crore to the PMC exchequer. A vigilance case is on in this regard.”
According to the present rates, agencies should pay the civic body Rs 80 per sqft for hoardings on government land and Rs 10 per sqft on private land annually.