KMC swoops down on tax-defaulting outdoor firms in Kolkata

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is taking strong measures by pulling down hundreds of outdoor advertisements which are put up by tax-defaulting agencies. Around 350 advertisements had been pulled down from billboards by the roadside so far.
 
According to Debasish Kumar, Member Mayor In Council in charge of Advertising said, “In case of private hoardings if we see that the advertisement tax is not paid we first inform the advertising agencies for their dues and if they fail we pull down the flexes. Many of the agencies have flouted the rules. In some cases it is also true that we are not getting access to bring some of them down particularly which are placed on the building tops and it is also posing as a big difficulty to us. We are losing out a huge amount of revenue. The  defaulter agencies owe us Rs 4 crore together. We have identified all those agencies that have not paid us taxes and thus are pulling down their advertisements.”

Many hoardings with their facades torn or pulled down can be seen along Central Avenue and in South Kolkata regions like Sayed Amir Ali Avenue, and in Dhakuria, among other places.
 
When asked if the authorities have sent any letters to the media owners before pulling down the flexes, a KMC official informed that all agencies are sent bills every quarter and it means they are supposed to pay the tax within the due date. Failing to do so, the KMC are well within their rights to pull down their advertisements without any need to send any notice to defaulters.
 
Debasish Kumar also shared, “We want to negotiate directly with the display companies. If the agencies are just not willing to pay then we do not have any other alternative left other than to pull down the billboards.