The proposal maintains the basic rule that a bidder who acquires the rights to any road section, circuit or area can advertise on behalf of clients anywhere in that zone. However, the rules governing private property were rewritten. | Photo credit: ALLEN EGENUSE J
Bengaluru’s advertising landscape is in for a major overhaul, with the state government issuing a new proposal that increases the amount of advertising allowed along the city’s roads. The proposal will introduce a stricter zone-based system and standardize the way rights are allocated to bidders for each road, circuit and notified section.
In the revised proposal, the government has allowed more advertising space on most roads in Bengaluru. Previously, the rules had fixed lower limits – for example, 800 sq ft of advertising was allowed every 200 m on 18-24 m roads, 1,000 sq ft on 24-30 m roads, 1,100 sq ft on 30-60 m wide roads and 1,200 sq ft on 1 200 sq. ft. The new proposal increases them to 1,000 sq. ft., 1,200 sq. ft., 1,500 sq. ft. and 1,600 sq. ft. respectively. A major previous restriction, the horizontal length limit for ads, has now been completely removed. The new concept removes the previous layout constraints that dictated how ads were arranged.
The new proposal also revises how much advertisers must pay per square foot. Earlier, the low value sections started at ₹50 per sq ft (at ₹3,000 per sq ft) and the rates went up to ₹90 (₹40,000 per sq ft) for the highest value areas. In the new proposal, the entry band starts at ₹45 (₹4,000 per sq ft) and the top band ends at ₹75 (₹25,000 per sq ft).
The proposal maintains the basic rule that a bidder who acquires the rights to any road section, circuit or area can advertise on behalf of clients anywhere in that zone. However, the rules governing private property were rewritten. Earlier, the BBMP bylaws imposed heavy penalties on properties and sites in the B register without Khata, including double additional property tax and in some cases full property tax plus double fines until the Khata was obtained.
The new draft removes these clauses and says that no commercial advertisement can be placed on a property that does not have a valid khata unless the owner first converts it to A-Khata in accordance with the law. The Corporation will continue to have the power to immediately remove hoardings on land without Khata or those missing from the property tax register.
The rules also make it clear that paying advertising fees to the corporation does not give advertisers any right to enter or use private or government property on their own, permits and terms of business must be independently negotiated with each property owner. These payments to property owners are separate from advertising fees owed to companies.
The proposal also redefines how advertising on government-owned premises will be handled. Earlier, Railways, BMRCL, KSRTC, BMTC and PSUs retained advertisement revenue on their campuses and certain metro related revenue was shared between BBMP and BMRCL. The new proposal continues to allow these agencies to tender and keep ad revenue on their devices, but removes the mutual sharing arrangement. Metro pillars, stations and all other structures of BMRCL remain completely outside the rights of the bidder, even if they fall within the allotted section of the bidder, and will be awarded separately by BMRCL.
Published – 14 Nov 2025 22:24 IST
