The billboards business of Karachi is big, but the problems it is facing, are even bigger. Their advertising space is being used by political and religious parties without any payment.
The Sindh Outdoor Advertisers Association (SOAA) has displayed banners across main roads in the city asking the provincial government to restrict political and religious parties that forcefully use billboards without paying rent.
Talking to The Express Tribune, SOAA General Secretary Sajjad Shirazi said that leading political and religious parties forcefully use their billboards and occupy them for weeks without paying rent, which affects their business.
“We have finally launched this protest campaign in the city after facing severe losses,” he said, “These parties not only use our billboards without paying rent but also sabotage our ongoing advertising campaigns by occupying space at odd times.”
“Our members annually pay Rs1.5 billion in taxes to cantonment boards and city government of Karachi but the government is indifferent to our problems. Our members, especially from Karachi, pay more than Rs1 billion in taxes,” Shirazi said.
Shirazi said that his association had also visited MQM and Jamaat-e-Islami offices in Karachi to explain their concerns. Despite assurances, nothing significant has been done.
An owner of a billboard site said that they buy sites from annual auctions for Rs2.5 million from the government. These billboards are then sold to advertising agencies on monthly basis. The rent of a big billboard depending on size can be as much as Rs0.2 million for a month.
He further said, “There are some political parties who request us for space and we give them a concession. For instance, All Pakistan Muslim League recently asked for space and we allowed them”. But most parties do not bother to take permission, he added.
There are three stakeholders in a billboard business. The site owners, the authorities who collect revenues from it and third, the client that advertises on it.
Advertising agencies are equally concerned with this problem. A chief executive of an outdoor advertising agency commented that his business has also been affected owing to unwanted banners of political and religious parties. “When such banners affect the advertising campaigns, the clients pressurise the site owners and do not pay them in full,” he said.
When advertising agencies complain, the site owners offer to change the place of banners but this eventually hurts their revenues, he said.
There are some 2,500 to 3,000 billboards, mainly in four sizes, in the jurisdiction of the city government and cantonment areas, industry officials said.
When contacted, the spokesperson of Sindh Governor said the governor would soon call a meeting of City District Government Karachi (CDGK) and SOAA representatives to resolve the matter.
Pakistan Peoples Party Karachi Division President Faisal Raza Abidi, when contacted, said that his party would ask for permission if it places any banners on billboards. “If they do not allow us, we will not put any of our banners in the city,” he stated. “If the Sindh government starts any such campaign against unauthorised banners, our party will cooperate with them,” he added.
Jamaat-e-Islami Deputy Information Secretary, Karachi, Riaz Siddiqui said that his party always tries to buy billboard space in the city. “In our last rally, we paid a significant amount of money to the advertising agency, but it was the agency that put our banners on some unauthorised places without informing us. We are trying to make sure this will not happen in the future,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 5th, 2011.
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