Outdoor ads in Bengaluru set for overhaul under draft 2025 rules

New Delhi: The Karnataka urban development department has published the draft Greater Bengaluru Area (Advertisement) Rules 2025, aiming to curb illegal hoardings, enhance urban aesthetics, and boost municipal revenues through a centralised auction system and stricter regulations.

This move replaces the existing 2024 bylaws and covers outdoor advertising across the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), including five city municipal corporations.

The draft introduces a zone-based auction mechanism via e-procurement, dividing the city into road stretches of approximately 656 feet (or 328 feet in special commercial areas).

Licensed advertisers, who must pay a Rs 5 lakh fee for a five-year license, can bid for exclusive rights to place ads on government and private properties along these stretches. Winning bidders can install advertisements anywhere within their assigned zone on behalf of clients, standardising the assignment process for roads, circles, and notified areas.

A key change is the increase in permissible roadside ad space, varying by road width: 1,000 square feet per 200 meters on 18-24 meter roads, 1,200 square feet on 24-30 meter roads, 1,500 square feet on 30-60 meter roads, and 1,600 square feet on roads wider than 60 meters. Up to 3,000 square feet is allowed at major circles. The rules remove previous caps on horizontal ad lengths and layout restrictions, but prohibit ads on roads narrower than 59 feet (except self-signage) and mandate a minimum 164-foot gap between hoardings.

To address digital advertising, the draft recognises formats like building facades, LEDs, and wraps, but bans videos or moving images. Frame changes are limited to once every 10 seconds, and 10% of display time must be allocated free for government public service announcements. Specific regulations also apply to ads on Metro pillars (with a 50:50 revenue share with Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited), skywalks, public toilets, and EV charging stations. Existing hoardings must comply within six months.

Enforcement is bolstered with severe penalties for unauthorised ads, including immediate removal, fines double the advertising fee for both advertisers and property owners, potential criminal charges, license suspension, blacklisting, and recovery of dues akin to property taxes. Breaches or failure to remove ads within seven days could lead to license cancellation, seizure of movable property, and sale.

Commercial advertising remains prohibited in sensitive zones, such as heritage corridors including Kumara Krupa Road, Sankey Road, Ambedkar Veedhi, Palace Road, Cubbon Park, Lalbagh, Nrupathunga Road, and Maharani College Road. Buffers include 25 meters from religious institutions and 100 meters from their access roads, with no ads near flyovers, railway overpasses, mobile towers, water bodies, national parks, sharp curves, or major junctions. Content bans persist on depictions of nudity, violence, sexually suggestive themes, or exploitation of women, children, or communities.

The rules also cover mobile vehicular ads, ad sizes and types, renewal processes, and notices for unauthorised removals. Ads for Bengaluru Metro must align with the respective city corporation standards.

The draft is open for public suggestions and objections for 30 days, to be submitted to the Additional Chief Secretary’s Office at the Urban Development Department, Vikasa Soudha. Officials state the changes will create cleaner, calmer city corridors while adapting to modern advertising needs.