Ad scam in Hyderabad : 70% revenue from Unipoles, hoardings going untapped

Hyderabad: A major scam is unfolding in the public advertisement sector. A probe carried out by HYDRAA has indicated that the Telangana government has lost Rs 100 crore by allowing/neglecting advertisement boards of different sizes such as unipoles and hoardings across the twin cities.

The role of GHMC officials in allowing illegal boards cannot go unnoticed. As much as 70-80 per cent of the revenue meant to be paid to the government in the form of fees has remained untapped, according to the probe.

Speaking to NewsMeter, HYDRAA commissioner AV Ranganath, IPS, said, “Many of the unipoles are unauthorised (companies have illegally occupied it) causing a loss to the state exchequer. In some cases, they have only paid for one and occupied more than one space. Despite lapses in permissions these companies continue to make business on unipoles unauthorisedly. Complaints have been filed against these companies in Shamshabad and Narsingi police stations by HYDRAA. Our team will be using jaw crushers to remove these unipoles resulting in monetary loss to the company. Once the HYDRAA police station is operational, action against the illegal ads (of all structures) will be intensified.”

Fraud by advertising agencies

Unipole (or monopole) advertising signs are usually billboard-type structures mounted atop a single steel pole or column.

So far close to 57 unauthorised unipoles, hoardings and ad boards have been pulled down across twin cities. Over 70-80 per cent of the advertisement revenue has remained untapped bringing a loss to the exchequer. The major players are ad agencies such as Prakash Ads, Lead Space and UNI Ads. The probe is yet to find where the money was being siphoned off, where it was to individuals or units at the agency level or the GHMC.

HYDRAA is asking the advertising agencies to furnish the bills paid to the local bodies including the cheque numbers. The permissions granted by GHMC to these ad agencies are under scrutiny.

Ranganath has asked GHMC to furnish the list of all authorised ad structures, failing which HYDRAA will assume that the boards missing on the list are unauthorised and action will be taken accordingly.

Since around Rs 100 crore is involved, the government said it is serious about tightening all avenues that draw revenue.

What are the advertising agencies operating in Hyderabad?

Leading advertising agencies such as Prakash Arts Pvt Ltd, Lead Space, UNI ADs and minor advertisement agencies such as PVS Ads, IKAR Ads, Ispace Advertisement, Surbahi Advertisement, UK Ads, B&M Ads, Sainath Ads, Foresite, I Catch advertising agency and others have come under the HYDRAA commissioner AV Ranganath’s radar.

Among the 57 unipoles removed, 12 (beside ORR) were removed from Kishanguda (Ootpally), Rallaguda and Kothwalguda; and 11 unipoles were removed from Tondupally, Sama Exclusive (Madhuranagar), Gollapally and Shamshabad.

The list includes three hoardings (beside ORR) removed in Rallaguda, 12 hoardings from Siddanthi Graveyard, Rallaguda and Tondulapally and one uni-structure at Tondulapally.

The authorities emphasised that this measure is part of a larger effort to regulate outdoor advertising, ensuring compliance with municipal regulations and preventing unlawful structures from cluttering public spaces.

The enforcement teams removed advertisement hoardings, including those with expired permits and completely unauthorised ones with no government approval or notice.

HYDRAA police station

The HYDRAA police station will be operational mostly by the second week of March.

The station will be located on the ground floor of Buddha Bhavan. The department has also written to the High Court seeking a special separate court to hear these cases. The station will be inaugurated by chief minister A Revanth Reddy.

The main function of HYDRAA is to protect assets, such as lakes, nalas, parks, layout open spaces, playgrounds, government lands etc of Urban Development Authorities (UDA), Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and Rural Local Bodies (RLBs). At ground level, the agency consists of teams monitoring the functioning of parks and lakes.

The jurisdiction of HYDRAA will cover the area leading up to the Outer Ring Road (ORR) and which is co-terminus with the tri-police commissionerates of Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda. These areas are difficult to process and monitor, especially for regular police stations which have other types of cases to also process.

HYDRAA plans to go tough on sand mafia

HYDRAA steps in to monitor and curb sand smuggling. The focus will be on sand trucks travelling from Bhupalpally, Peddapalli, Mancheriyal and Kothagudem. There will be special teams monitoring the activities in Khammam, Warangal and Karimnagar districts.