Mayor rubbishes ad policy draft as unsuitable

Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun rubbished the Advertisement Bylaws 2019, prepared by former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara's team.

The mayor on Thursday wrote to chief secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar, seeking a suitable ad policy as per the conditions of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

The move comes after the mayor was exhausted by the ruling party leader from her own Congress party.

Abdul Wajid postponed the passing of a resolution rejecting the new draft.

In her letter, Gangambike wrote: “The BBMP prepared an ad policy and sent it to the government for approval. The government in turn sent a different draft to the BBMP. The government notified the draft on July 22, 2019 and gave a 15-day deadline.”

Elaborating on the loopholes, the mayor wrote that the new draft diluted various strictures.

BBMP's draft had made occupation certificates mandatory for hoardings.

“The new draft by the government has no such rules. The fees for advertising has been reduced, which will cause financial loss. Despite the council adopting a resolution to ban advertisement hoardings, the new draft will make way for illegal hoardings. Considering all these factors, I request you to prepare the advertisement draft rules that is suitable for the BBMP,” the letter read.