TAMIL NADU URBAN LOCAL BODIES LICENSING OF HOARDINGS AND LEVY AND COLLECTION OF ADVERTISEMENT TAX RULES, 2003¹

TAMIL NADU URBAN LOCAL BODIES LICENSING OF HOARDINGS AND LEVY AND COLLECTION OF ADVERTISEMENT TAX RULES, 2003¹

PREAMBLE

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 303 of the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920 (Tamil Nadu Act V of 1920), section 431 of the Madurai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1971 (Tamil Nadu Act 15 of 1971), section 430 of the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation Act, 1981 (Tamil Nadu Act 25 of 1981), section 8 of the Tiruchirapalli City Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 27 of 1994), section 8 of the Tirunelveli City Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 28 of 1994) and section 8 of the Salem City Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 29 of 1994) and in supersession of the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Licensing of Hoardings and Levy and Collection of Advertisement Tax Rules, 1998, the Governor of Tamil Nadu hereby makes the following rules:--

1. Short title and commencement.--

(1) These rules may be called the Tamil Nadu Urban Local Bodies Licensing of Hoardings and Levy and Collection of Advertisement Tax Rules, 2003.

(2) These rules shall apply to all the urban local bodies except the Chennai City Municipal Corporation in the State.

2. Definitions.--

In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,--

(a) "Act" means the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920 (Tamil Nadu Act V of 1920), the Madurai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1971 (Tamil Nadu Act 15 of 1971), the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation Act, 1981 (Tamil Nadu Act 25 of 1981), the Tiruchirapalli City Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 27 of 1994), the Tirunelveli City Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 28 of 1994), or the Salem City Municipal Corporation Act, 1994 (Tamil Nadu Act 29 of 1994), as the case may be;

(b) "advertisement" means any information exhibited on any hoarding exhibited on any screen or board, wall or building either private or public or any hoarding erected on any private or public land or building or on any frame work or other support wholly or in part over any private or public land or building visible to public wholly or partly and will exclude advertisement made in newspapers, broadcast made over radio or telecast in television;

(c) "Council" means the council of a City Municipal Corporation, Municipality or Town Panchayat, as the case may be;

(d) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of a City Municipal Corporation or of a Municipality or Executive Officer of a Town Panchayats;

(e) "District Collector" means the Collector of the District concerned;

(f) "Form" means the Forms appended to these rules;

(g) "Government" means the Government of Tamil Nadu;

(h) "licence" means the licence granted under rule 3;

(i) "urban local body" means the City Municipal Corporation, municipality or town panchayat in the State;

(j) words and expressions used but not defined in these rules shall have the meanings respectively assigns in the Act.

3. Grant of licence.--

(a) Every application for a licence to erect a hoarding shall be made to the District Collector in Form I.

(b) Every application made under sub-rule (1) shall contain--

(i) a plan of the hoarding to be erected indicating the height and other dimensions and the material proposed to be used as approved by a qualified Engineer;

(ii) a no objection certificate from the owner of the land where the hoarding is to be erected in a private land or building or a no objection certificate from the State or Central Government Department concerned, if the hoarding is to be erected on the land of State or Central Government or a no objection certificate from the Commissioner of the Municipality concerned, if the hoarding is to be erected on a municipal land:

Provided that in respect of State and Central Government land, the no objection certificate shall be issued by an Officer not lower in rank than that of an Assistant Executive Engineer or Assistant Divisional Engineer;

(iii) a certificate from a Police Officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police that the proposed hoarding would not be an obstruction to free and safe movement of traffic, pedestrians and vehicles;

(iv) a topo sketch indicating the proposed location of the hoarding.

(c) Every application made under sub-rule (1) shall be accompanied by a chalan for payment of the fee specified in rule 12.

²(2) The District Collector shall, after satisfying himself that the applicant has complied with all the requirements of the Act and the rules, grant a licence in Form II for erection of a hoarding.

4. Validity of licence.--

The licence granted under rule 3 shall be valid upto the 31st day of March of the third year.

5. Renewal of licence.--

Every licence granted under rule 3 may be renewed for three years. The application for renewal of a licence shall be made to the District Collector in Form V two months before the date of expiry of the licence and the provisions of rules applicable to the grant of licence shall apply to the renewal of the licence. The District Collector shall dispose of such renewal application within sixty days from the date of its receipt and, in any case, not latter than the expiry of the validity of the licence.

6. Maximum size of hoarding.--

(1) The maximum size of a hoarding to be erected shall be--

Road width.	Maximum size.
Above 100 feet.	24 feet x 12 feet (horizontal position).
Between 50-100 feet.	15 feet x 10 feet (horizontal position).
Less than 50 feet.	12 feet x 6 feet (Either horizontal or vertical):

³Provided that in respect of a hoarding to be erected upon a bus shelter and public convenience built by Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation, the maximum size shall be 3 metres x 9 metres (Horizontal Position) irrespective of the width of the road.

(2) The maximum height of hoarding including the height from the ground level of hoarding shall not exceed thirty feet. The hoarding erected in one particular road must be of uniform size as practicable as possible.

(3) No hoarding shall be permitted on both sides of the roads with a footpath of less than ten feet width. In roads with no separate footpath, a minimum of ten feet width shall be available between the road margin and the hoarding for use of pedestrians.

(4) The hoarding shall be erected only parallel to the footpath or road, and not across the footpath or road margin.

(5) The hoarding irrespective of the size shall be erected on steel frames.

(6) There shall be a gap of not less than five feet width between one hoarding and another. The gap between hoardings in a road may be of uniform length.

⁴(7) Nothing contained in sub-rules (3) and (6) shall apply to any hoarding erected upon a bus shelter and public convenience built by Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation:

Provided that such hoardings shall be erected after leaving sufficient space for the use of pedestrians.

7. Rent to be collected for erection of hoarding on Government or municipal land.--

(1) The Government shall, by order, fix the minimum and maximum rates of rent to be collected from the licensees for the erection of hoarding in State Government lands. The District Collector will notify the rates applicable in respect of Government lands in the Urban Local Bodies in the District within such minimum and maximum of rates fixed by the Government collect the rent and credit into the Government account. The District Collector may fix different rates of rent for different Local Bodies.

(2) The Council shall fix and collect the annual rent for erection of hoarding on the land of the Urban Local Body concerned.

8. Cancellation of licence.--

(1) Where the District Collector either suo moto or on public representation has reason to belief that a licensee has violated or failed to comply with the conditions of the licence or any provision of the Act or these rules, he shall call upon the licensee, by notice in writing, addressed by Registered post to the address given in his licence stating the grounds, to show cause within such period not less than fifteen days from the date of receipt of such notice as to why the licence should not be cancelled and also shall give the licensee an opportunity of being heard.

(2) On examining the reply received from the licensee within the time limit specified in sub-rule (1), the District Collector may cancel the licence.

9. Un authorised, obscene or objectionable hoarding.--

(1) On cancellation of a licence under rule 8 or refusal to renew a licence under rule 5, the owner of such a hoarding shall remove it within seven days from the date of receipt of the order of cancellation of licence or of the order refusing to renew the licence, failing which the District Collector shall cause to remove such hoarding and recover the cost of such removal from the owner of such hoarding.

(2) The District Collector may either suo moto or on any representation shall direct the licensee to remove those advertisement in a hoarding within seven days, if the contents of such advertisement is considered to be obscene or objectionable. If the licensee does not remove such advertisement within seven days, the District Collector shall remove the hoarding and recover the costs from the owner of such hoarding.

10. Restriction on grant of licence.--

Licence shall not be granted for erection of hoarding in the following places, namely:--

(i) In front of educational institutions, popular places of worship and hospitals with inpatient treatment facility;

(ii) in the corners of road or street junctions, upto a distance of 100 metres on either sides of the junction; and

(iii) in front of places of historical or aesthetic importance.

11. Appeal against the order refusing to grant a licence or renew a licence.--

An appeal to the State Government shall be made in Form III within thirty days from the date of receipt of the order refusing to grant a licence or renew a licence. The appeal shall be accompanied by a fee of Rs. 500 (Rupees five hundred only) and the grounds of appeal. Such appeal shall be disposed of within a period of sixty days from the date of receipt of such appeal.

12. Licence fee, etc.--

(1) The fee for grant of licence and for renewal of licence shall be Rs. 500/- (Rupees five hundred only).

(2) All fees, rent for Government lands and advertisement tax payable under these rules shall be paid in the District Treasury or Sub-Treasury through chalan.

13. Rate of advertisement tax on advertisement exhibited on hoarding.--

The half-yearly advertisements tax on advertisements exhibited on the hoardings shall be levied as per the Table below:--

TABLE

Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Tirunelveli and Salem Corporations

Location and nature.		Rates of Tax per square metre per half year (Rupees).
(1)		(2)
1.	Hoardings in arterial road with bus route--
	(a) without lighting.	150
	(b) with ordinary lighting.	200
	(c) with neon or mercury lighting.	300
2.	Hoardings in main road with bus route--
	(a) without lighting.	100
	(b) with ordinary lighting.	150
	(c) neon or mercury lighting.	200
3.	Hoardings in other road or street--
	(a) without lighting.	90
	(b) with ordinary lighting.	125
	(c) neon or mercury lighting.	150
Municipalities.
1.	Hoardings in arterial road with bus route--
	(a) without lighting.	75
	(b) with ordinary lighting.	90
	(c) with neon or mercury lighting.	100
2.	Hoardings in main road with bus route--
	(a) without lighting.	60
	(b) with ordinary lighting.	70
	(c) neon or mercury lighting.	80
3.	Hoardings in other road or street--
	(a) without lighting.	50
	(b) with ordinary lighting.	60
	(c) neon or mercury lighting.	70
Town Panchayats.
1.	Hoardings in arterial road with bus route--
	(a) without lighting.	60
	(b) with ordinary lighting.	80
	(c) with neon or mercury lighting.	90
2.	Hoardings in main road with bus route--
	(a) without lighting.	40
	(b) with ordinary lighting.	60
	(c) neon or mercury lighting.	70
3.	Hoardings in other road or street--
	(a) without lighting.	20
	(b) with ordinary lighting.	30
	(c) neon or mercury lighting.	60

14. Rate of tax for advertisement other than on hoarding.--

(1) The council shall fix the half-yearly advertisement tax on advertisements exhibited other than on hoardings, subject to the maxima and minima specified below:--

		Minimum (1)	Maximum (2)
1.	Madurai, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Tirunelveli and Salem Corporations.	30	500
2.	Municipalities.	20	500
3.	Town Panchayats.	10	500

(2) While fixing the rate of advertisement tax, the council shall take into consideration the location and type of the advertisement and may fix different rates of tax for different places and different types of advertisement.

15. Issue of assessment order on advertisement tax.--

The District Collector shall issue an assessment order for payment of half-yearly advertisement tax in Form IV along with the licence for erection of a hoarding.

16. Payment of advertisement tax.--

The advertisement tax shall be levied and collected every half-year beginning from 1st April to 30th September and from 1st October to 31st March. The advertisement tax shall be paid within thirty days from the beginning of the half-year or within thirty days from the date of issue of assessment order, as the case may be. If the advertisement tax is not paid within the said period of thirty days, the District Collector may, after giving notice in writing to the owner of such hoarding, take such action as are required under these rules.

17. Maintenance of registers.--

A register as in Form VI shall be maintained by the District Collector for every urban local body in the District in regard to issue of licences for erection of hoarding and collection of rent and advertisement tax on hoarding.

18. Inspection of hoardings.--

The District Collector or any officer authorized by him in this behalf shall make periodical inspection of the hoardings erected and verify whether hoardings are being maintained in accordance with the conditions prescribed in the licence. During such inspection, if it is noticed that the hoardings are not in accordance with the provisions of the Act and these rules and the conditions of the licence, the District Collector shall take such action as are required under these rules.

19. Remittance of urban local body share of advertisement tax on hoarding.--

The District Collector shall arrange to remit the twenty-five per cent of the advertisement fax collected on the advertisement made on the hoarding permitted in a municipal area to the Personal Deposit Account of the urban local body concerned in the District Treasury or Sub-Treasury, as the case may be, once in a year between April and June of the succeeding year.