Kolkata Municipal Corporation will waive advertisement fees on conventional temporary Durga Puja display boards but charge Rs 600 per square foot per day for makeshift LED boards and flexes used to display advertisements, according to a KMC advertisement department official.
The civic body has communicated the decision in a letter to the secretary of the Forum For Durgotsav, an umbrella organisation of Durga Puja organisers. The exemption will apply to other forms of temporary puja advertising, including non-LED hoardings, banners and flexes, sources said.
The fee structure places a financial distinction between conventional displays and LED-based advertising installations during the festival. KMC’s advertisement department will administer the charge for LED boards installed on puja premises.
The civic body has also warned puja organisers that temporary advertisements must be removed after Dashami. A KMC official said the removal requirement would be made mandatory for all organisers.
KMC officials said the warning follows delays in dismantling advertisement structures after the festival in several parts of Kolkata. The civic body is particularly concerned about bamboo frameworks and other temporary installations that remain on pavements and along major roads after the deadline.
Neighbourhoods identified by officials include Ultadanga, Narkeldanga, Sarat Bose Road, Asutosh Mukherjee Road in Bhowanipore and Golf Green. The structures are used to display advertisements during Durga Puja, but some have reportedly not been removed within the deadline set by the advertisement department.
A senior KMC official said the civic body would remove bamboo structures that remain after the deadline. The materials would be seized and would not be returned to decorators, the official said.
The removal policy affects temporary structures placed in spaces used by pedestrians and road users. KMC’s position indicates that the advertisement department will treat post-Dashami clearance as a compliance issue rather than leaving dismantling to individual puja committees and decorators.
Durga Puja brings extensive temporary installations, advertising displays and bamboo structures to neighbourhood streets and public spaces across Kolkata. The fee exemption for non-LED advertising and the separate charge for LED boards will therefore apply across a large number of festival-related displays managed by local puja committees.
The immediate administrative focus is on communicating the fee rules to organisers and ensuring that temporary advertisements and supporting structures are removed after Dashami. KMC officials have not indicated any change to the exemption for conventional non-LED advertisements in the information supplied.
