Pindi bans unauthorised banners

The Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC), along with the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) and the City District Council, has taken a stringent stance against the unauthorised display of banners and hoardings placed by political parties and candidates along roadsides and markets in the city and suburban areas, declaring them as illegal.

Officials from the concerned departments revealed that none of the candidates had sought permission to erect these banners and billboards. “The billboards and election advertisements boards have been put up on all roads and busy intersections without seeking approval and payment of fees,” departmental sources told The Express Tribune.

Individuals who have failed to secure approval for these banners, displayed on billboards without proper authorisation, and have neglected to fulfil the mandatory fee requirements, are now set to face immediate legal consequences.

The daily rental fee for a flex banner is between Rs70 and Rs80. In total, approximately 50,000 flex banners, signboards and hoardings have been installed in the RMC, PHA and City Council limits and their number continues to rise. As a consequence, the spaces that were originally designated for the commercial boards of prominent companies and offices, having paid the required flex fees, are now obscured among the plethora of election-centric boards.

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All candidates and political parties are urged to seek written permission from the relevant authorities for flex boards, otherwise, action will be taken. Notices are being issued to candidates, and the authorities are taking note of the daily losses of millions of rupees incurred by these violations. Special concessions will be granted to election boards upon obtaining permission. However, free boards will not be permitted, and all field staff in various departments have initiated the counting of flex boards in their respective areas.

According to reports, all candidates will be directed to settle advertising bills promptly. In cases of non-compliance, written complaints will be filed with the respective Returning Officers against candidates who fail to pay the bills for advertisement boards and flex banners, ensuring accountability in the electoral process.

Last week, the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board granted permission to candidates participating in the national elections to display advertising banners across the cantonment without the need for permits or charges.

This decision was announced during a meeting, chaired by RCB President Brigadier Ahmad Nawaz. The participants of the meeting were informed that candidates no longer needed to get permission or pay a panaflex fee for advertisement during the election campaign on roads across the cantonment.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2024.