Kolkata Municipal Corporation has told outdoor advertising agencies that Durga Puja hoardings mounted on bamboo frames before October 3 will not qualify for the fee exemption announced for advertisements put up next month. Agencies displaying advertisements in September will be charged according to KMC rates, while LED advertisements will remain subject to fees even if installed in October.
The civic body issued the instruction to outdoor advertising agencies on Wednesday, according to the Times of India. The directive covers advertisements mounted on bamboo frames ahead of the Durga Puja season, when large temporary displays become a prominent part of Kolkata’s streetscape.
The KMC has also asked agencies to remove the advertisements within a week after Dashami. The instruction creates a defined period for the display of the hoardings and places responsibility on agencies to dismantle them after the festival’s principal celebrations.
According to the report, only flex advertisements installed next month will be exempt from municipal fees under the announcement attributed to CM Suvendu Adhikari. An owner of an outdoor advertising agency told the newspaper that the exemption would apply to flexes put up in October, but not to LED advertisements.
“LED advertisements will not be exempt of paying fees, even if they are put up in Oct,” the agency owner said, adding that the height of the advertisements could not exceed 22 feet.
The height restriction applies to the hoardings installed on the temporary bamboo frames. The KMC’s instructions therefore combine three conditions for the festival advertising period: the installation date, the type of advertisement and the maximum height of the structure.
The timing of the directive is significant for the city’s outdoor advertising market, as agencies typically begin preparing festival campaigns before the main Puja period. The report said the city’s Puja advertisement business was worth nearly Rs 150 crore, indicating the scale of commercial activity linked to the festival.
For agencies, advertisements installed in September will attract fees under the KMC’s existing rates, while qualifying flex advertisements installed in October will receive the exemption described in the announcement. LED displays will continue to attract charges regardless of whether they are installed before or after October 3.
The directive also gives the civic body a mechanism to regulate the duration and scale of temporary advertising structures in public spaces. Agencies have been told to ensure that the hoardings do not exceed the prescribed height and are removed within the specified period after Dashami.
The KMC’s next enforcement milestones are October 3, when the exemption for eligible flex advertisements is to begin, and the week following Dashami, when agencies have been instructed to remove the displays.
