Pay twice as much for hoarding ads

A PMC official said, 8220;Presently, PMC8217;s skysign charge per sq metre is Rs 60 for a non-illuminated hoarding and Rs 75 for an illuminated one. These charges are minimal, which needs to be revised for earning more revenue. A proposal to this effect has been tabled before the commissioner.8221; 8220;If we double the charges, we expect a revenue of about Rs 11 crore from it,8221; he added.

President of the Pune Hoardings Association, Balasaheb Ganjave, said 300 hoarding advertisers operate in the city. In an attempt to increase revenue in view of the global meltdown and the decreasing revenue sources, PMC is thinking of certain measures including charging octroi on sales tax returns of gold instead of octroi on value of gold. There are plans to charge the telecom department and other public utilities for laying down cables in PMC-owned lands. Raising advertising charge is a bid in that direction.