The Calcutta Municipal Corporation is pulling down hundreds of advertisements put up by tax-defaulter agencies in an alleged bid to improve accounts before the civic polls.

A CMC official said the raids started early this month and around 350 advertisements had been pulled down from billboards by the roadside.

The civic body collects quarterly tax from the agencies that put up the advertisements. The official said the agencies that had defaulted on paying the tax were being penalised.

'The defaulter agencies owe us Rs 4 crore together. We are losing revenue as some agencies are not paying their taxes,' said Debasish Kumar, the mayoral council member in charge of advertising.

'We have identified the agencies that have not paid us taxes. We are pulling down their advertisements,' the CMC official said.

One Saturday night, the CMC men had pulled down 90 advertisements across the city. Billboards with their facades torn or pulled down can be seen along Central Avenue and Syed Amir Ali Avenue, and in Dhakuria, among other places.

Another civic official said such tactics were often employed to raise additional revenue ahead of the elections. 'Why didn't they conduct such massive raids over the past five years? Why a few months ahead of the polls?' he asked. 'It is not that the agencies started to default only from the last quarter.'

Another official from the CMC's advertising department said such raids were often conducted. 'We are doing it on a massive scale this time.'

The civic authorities did not issue any notice to the agencies before pulling down the advertisements. 'All agencies are sent bills every quarter. It means they are supposed to pay the tax within the due date. If someone doesn't pay, we are well within our rights to pull down their advertisements,' he said. 'There is no need to send any notice to pull down the advertisements put up by defaulters.'

The authorities are, however, worried over what to do with advertisements put up on billboards on terraces of houses or apartment blocks.

House-owners might not agree to let in CMC people without talking to advertising agencies. 'These agencies pay house-owners or apartment associations where they put up advertisements. Why will they allow us inside to tear and pull down the ads?' an official asked.

If the CMC fails to take similar action against advertisements on terraces of buildings, then those agencies whose ads have been pulled down will allege discrimination.

'We have to find a way so that we do not face any resistance when we go to buildings and houses,' the official said.