The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation on April 22 had slapped a fine of Rs 29,390 on new Punjab Congress chief, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, for allegedly putting up posters and banners in the city illegally, without permission.

Putting up posters is regulated in Chandigarh under the Advertisement Control Act. No one is allowed to put up banners and posters, without permission, under the said Act. Hina Rohtaki takes a closer look at the Advertisement Control Act and its various provisions.

Under the Chandigarh Advertisement Control Order, 1954, no person in Chandigarh can install or put up a board or banner without prior permission in writing from the competent authority. The permissions, in such cases will also be granted only for a certain number of places.

Clause 4 of the Chandigarh Advertisement Control Order explicitly states, “No person shall without the written permission of the Chief Administrator erect, exhibit, fix or retain any advertisement whether now existing or not, upon any land, building, wall hoarding or structure”.

It also says that the board or hoarding shall be allowed provided it is exhibited within the showcase of any commercial building or it relates to the trade of business carried on within the building upon which such advertisement is exhibited and provided it is exhibited on that part of the building which is specifically provided for the purpose in the building plan sanctioned by the Chief Administrator or it relates to any sale or letting of any land or building upon which such advertisement is exhibited or is exhibited on an enclosed land or a building not visible from outside the land or building.

The clause further reads, “…no person shall erect, exhibit, fix retain or display or cause to be erected, exhibited, fixed, retained or displayed any advertisement and sky sign in any street, road, a public park or part thereof in any place of public resort.”

Chandigarh does not allow any hoarding or boards or banners or any sort of advertisement at Sukhna lake, all roundabouts, Madhya Marg, Jan Marg and all other main streets. At places other than these, it is only with the due permission of the civic body commissioner that hoardings can be allowed upon payment of a specific advertisement fee.

The Act disallows any advertisement that hinders the vision of drivers.

According to Clause 17, “No advertisement shall be sited or displayed to obstruct the vision of drivers of vehicular traffic or to hinder the ready interpretation of any road traffic sign, railway or air signal.” Any such installed advertisement is to be removed immediately and even liable for a penalty.

In case of permitted advertisements, how is the fee calculated?

According to the Chandigarh Advertisement Control Order, in case of an advertisement, hoarding on wall, or post or in the form of non-illuminated sky signs, for a space up to 10 square feet, Rs 1200 is to be charged, for a space over 10 sq feet and upto 25 sq feet, an amount of Rs 2400 is to be charged and for every additional 25 square feet, Rs 3000 is to be charged.

Even in case of advertisement boards (non-illuminated) on vehicles like buses, for space up to 50 square feet Rs 3920 is to be charged and then for every additional 50 square feet, Rs 3840 would be charged annually. In case the boards are illuminated, Rs 7840 and Rs 11,520 on annual basis would be charged respectively.

In case of banners on buildings or open spaces or roadside except for main roads, Rs 100 per square feet per day upto a period of one week and Rs 120 per square feet for the subsequent day shall be charged, and in case the advertisement is being done by way of balloons, Rs 200 per square feet per day upto a period of one week and Rs 250 for subsequent days shall be charged.

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According to the order, if the advertisement fee is not paid within the stipulated period, a sum equal to 25 per cent of the fee due shall be payable as penalty, in addition to this, other actions too may be taken against the defaulter under the provisions of the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952.

In case of Punjab Congress President Amrinder Raja Warring’s hoardings, a penalty of 25 per cent of the fee, along with GST, was imposed since permission was not taken from the civic corporation.

What if a person doesn’t pay the said fee and penalty?

If the violator doesn’t pay up the fee, penalty and interest, action under Sections 69, 70 and 71 of the Criminal Procedure Code can be initiated against them in addition to the recovery of the outstanding dues.

How many political parties have been challaned in the past?

There have been several instances where several political parties have put up hoardings, flags and banners welcoming national leaders to Chandigarh. But no serious action has been taken by the corporation against them thus far. Congress’ Punjab president, Amrinder Warring, was the first to be actually slapped with a fine by the civic corporation under the said Act last month.

According to details, as many as five notices have been issued in the past three years but none of them have been to a political party.

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Hina RohtakiHina Rohtaki is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, Cha... read more