Advertising companies that are forced by Hanoi authorities to downsize and lower their advertising panels have sought the city Party Committee’s intervention to change the rule that will cost them a nine-figure sum to have each of the violating panels fixed.
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| Advertising firms say Hanoi's new regulation will cause them a huge loss Photo: Tuoi Tre |
The authorities also required that ad panels cannot be installed more than 17 meters above ground.
In their appeal to the Party Committee, businesses say the changes to their current billboards, most of which are 200-250 square meters, will cost them VND370 million (USD17,760) per panel.
The total cost for shrinking and lowering all 128 panels along the expressway will amount to VND47.7 billion (nearly $2.3 million).
In addition, changes in the size of the panels also mean violation of the advertising contracts they have signed with their customers.
Before 2008, most of the panels, which are located in Thuong Tin and Phu Xuyen districts, were allowed to have a surface area of 250 square meters when the districts belonged to Ha Tay Province at that time.
In August 2008, when Hanoi expanded its administrative boundary to include these districts, the authorities ordered advertisers to reduce their panels to 200 square meters each.
Affected advertizing firms have therefore asked the Party Committee to interfere to allow panels that were installed on the expressway before 2008 to maintain their heights and sizes – at 200 square meters.
Following the businesses’ petition, the Party Committee has requested Hanoi authorities to deal with the issue appropriately. Deputy chairperson of the city People’s Committee, Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, has ordered the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to review the situation and report to both the authorities and the Party Committee before April 15.
Businesses that obtained a license for their panels before August 2008 should be given a reasonable timeframe to make changes, but firms that installed panels without a license or not in accordance with their licenses must be strictly punished, she said.
