Explainer: BBMP’s Changes to Advertisement Bye-laws

The BBMP, in July 2025, notified new rules to govern advertisements in its vast area. The news rules are ostensibly to regulate hoardings and billboards, restricting their size and proliferation, while also earning BBMP revenue from them.

Large advertisements on roadsides

The following advertisements are allowed on the specific types of roadsides as below

Advertisement	Where allowed	Restrictions
Billboards and hoardings	1. Roads wider than 60 ft Or 2. Roads marked commercial or industrial	1. Based on the specific width of the roads(60, 80 or 100 ft), the size of the hoarding can vary. 2. All such ads must be a minimum 7 ft from the ground. 3. Maximum height from ground is 75 ft.
Trivision (they can share multiple ads periodically)	Same as above.	1. Their size can be max 60% of the permitted size for billboards for that road width. 2. They need to be at least 10 ft from the ground level. 3. They are not permitted on rooftops or walls of buildings. 4. They cannot be more than 50 ft from the ground level.
LEDs/LCDs and such electronic message boards	Same as above	1. Their size can be max 60% of the permitted size for billboards for that road width. 2. They need to be at least 7ft from the ground level. 3. They cannot be more than 50 ft from the ground level. 4. No videos allowed, only still images which can be changed with a gap of at least 10 seconds.

Advertisements allowed on buildings

Advertisement	Where allowed	Restrictions
On Public toilets	1. Roads wider than 60 ft. Or 2. Roads marked commercial or industrial	1. As a display board not more than 4 ft in width (vertical), and never longer than the building hosting them. 2. Or as a building wrap, but leaving 2 ft free at the top and 1 ft at the bottom. 2. Maximum height 2.5 ft above the roof of the toilet
On police and traffic kiosks	Same as above.	1. As a building wrap, leaving 2 ft on top and at least 1 foot at the bottom. 2. Not more than 4 ft in width (vertical), and never longer than the kiosk hosting them. 3. Maximum height 1.5 ft above the roof of the kiosk
On public benches, dust bins etc.	Same as above	1. A display fitting the dimensions of the furniture hosting it, and not covering more than 70% of it.

Advertisements allowed on buses and other vehicles

The document specifies what kinds of advertisements are allowed on vehicles, where and the fees to be paid to BBMP to advertise. If an auto hosts an advertisement board at the back, the auto would be liable to pay a monthly rate to BBMP.

Interestingly, the bye-laws specify a minimum ground clearance for ads on vehicles – 10 ft for buses, and 6 ft for taxis and autos. Given that cars and taxis are rarely 6 ft tall, this becomes an impossible restriction to follow. It is likely that the bye-laws meant them as maximum height, and they have put it in the wrong column.

Advertisement	Where allowed	Restrictions
Buses (private and BMTC)	1. Not permitted anywhere on the front side of any buses. 2. Permitted on sides and back, but not covering more than 70% of the surface	1. Minimum ground clearance of 10 ft. 2. Such buses are not allowed to advertise by standing around for the sake of advertising.
BMTC Bus shelters	Permitted on all bus shelters.	1. As display boards covering the sides. 2. As a display board on the roof not more than 4 ft in width (vertical), and never longer than the shelter hosting it. 3. Inside the shelter on the back-wall but covering max 70% of it. 3. Maximum height 4 ft above the roof of the shelter
Autos and taxis	1. Not permitted anywhere on the front of the vehicles. 2. Permitted on sides and back, but not covering more than 70% of the surface	1. Minimum ground clearance of 6 ft. 2. Such vehicles are not allowed to advertise by standing around for the sake of advertising.
Delivery and service vehicles	1. Not permitted anywhere on the front of the vehicles. 2. Permitted on sides and back, but not covering more than 50% of the surface	1. Minimum ground clearance of 6 ft. 2. Such vehicles are not allowed to advertise by standing around for the sake of advertising.

Advertisements allowed on Metro rail and pillars

Metro has three important components, the trains, pillars and stations. In the case of stations, the bye-laws specify that the spaces will be put to tender and are beyond the scope of bye-laws. Only pillars and trains are covered by the rules.

In the case of metro pillars, the same rules also apply to flyover pillars.

Advertisement	Where allowed	Restrictions
Metro and other trains	Metro rail or city rail running within the city can use the entire exterior body of the rail wagon or coaches for the purpose of advertisement	No specific restrictions
Metro pillars and road flyover plyons	1. Roads wider than 60 ft. Or 2. Wherever such structures (pillars/pylons) exist.	1. Maximum height of 20ft. 2. Minimum ground clearance of 6 ft. 3. Should fit within the width of the pillars. 4. Not more than 10 ft in total height. 5. The displays will be restricted to the vertical pillar, and shall not extend into the horizontal supporting beams.

Restrictions on placement of advertisements

The BBMP bye-laws also specify in detail where hoardings or advertisements of any form cannot be placed.

The list of prohibited places include:

1. At intersections – up to 50 ft on each of the approaching roads from intersections
2. Open spaces – parks, playgrounds and recreation grounds
3. Heritage buildings, world heritage sites and monuments
4. River beds, lakes, water bodies
5. On traffic lights, high mast lights, electric poles and streetlights
6. Footpaths
7. Obstructing pedestrians or their visibility
8. Projected on roads
9. Obstructing visibility of merging, approaching or intersecting traffic on roads.
10. On trees – no types of ads are allowed on trees
11. 50m from religious places in any direction
12. 5m from the edge of flyovers, elevated corridors and Railway Overbridges

There are guidelines on how they can and cannot be placed.

1. Advertisements cannot be powered by diesel generators
2. Cannot be placed one above the other
3. In case of two advertisements they need to be arranged as a “V”, each facing different directions of the road
4. They cannot be placed more than 30m from ground level
5. In the case of neon lights, the rules specify that they need to be “put off by 10:00 PM”, and the “illumination shall not be continued after 11:00 PM”, which is a contradiction in their rules.
6. In residential areas, neon lights shall not flicker

These are some of the important restrictions on advertisements specified by BBMP’s latest advertisement bye-laws. For more details, and the pricing for different forms of advertising, you can refer to the bye-laws available here.

Violations Booking

The most important question that comes to mind is who tracks violations of these rules and takes down the hoardings/advertisements. Is there a way for the common citizen to complain when their footpaths are blocked or roads made unsafe by wrong placement of hoardings?

On the topic of removal of illegal advertisements and hoardings, the bye-laws state these two important points:

1. no advertisement or display or its infrastructure which is prohibited or without valid permission or otherwise violates any of the provisions of these bye-laws shall be erected or continued to be displayed.
2. if the same comes to the notice of the BBMP, it shall be removed or demolished by the Chief Commissioner or the Special Commissioner (Advertisements) or the Zonal Commissioner or the Joint Commissioner, after a written notice of seven days in Form-VII: Provided that any unauthorized erection or display of advertisement on road or footpath or any land or property owned by the Government or BBMP or any Government owned Public Sector Unit or agency may be removed or demolished immediately without any written notice.

To find these hoardings, periodic inspection will be needed and they will be conducted by the authorities as below:
The Chief Commissioner or the Special Commissioner (Advertisements) or the Zonal Commissioner or the Joint Commissioner or any officer authorized by them in this behalf shall make periodical inspection of advertisements erected and verify whether advertisements are being maintained in accordance with the conditions specified in the license. During such inspection, if it is noticed that the advertisements are not in accordance with provisions of the Act and these bye-laws and the conditions of the license, the Chief Commissioner or Special Commissioner (Advertisements) or the Zonal Commissioner or the Joint Commissioner shall take such action as specified under these bye-laws.

Unfortunately, there is no specific provision under the bye-laws to enable the common citizen to complain about illegal advertisements and hoardings. The only method might be to put it in writing to the relevant authority.