hoardings With the 2024 Assembly Elections approaching, Pimpri’s Chhath Puja celebrations have taken on a political flavor, as candidates compete for visibility. 06-11-2024 Hoardings displaying candidate names, party symbols, and slogans have sprung up around the Ghats, turning the sacred festival site into a bustling campaign ground. TOI photo by Ashish Gupta Pune.
However, in Dec 2025, the High Court ruled in favour of the PMC.
P une: The civic administration on Wednesday withdrew its proposal to hike advertisement charges after placing it before the general body for approval, citing “technical problems”. The administration currently earns approximately Rs120 crore from hoarding charges, according to civic officials. This figure could potentially soar to Rs400 crore if the new rates were implemented, a civic official said. “The matter of the hike even led to a legal battle, with several advertising agencies moving the Bombay High Court,” a senior PMC official said. “The court held that municipal corporations are statutorily empowered to impose, collect, revise, and regulate license fees for hoardings, and advertisements,” a senior official from PMC’s legal department said. Officials should explain why the proposal was withdrawn and clarify if they are acting under any external pressure,” said Congress corporator Prashant Jagtap. Echoing these concerns, Congress corporator Arvind Shinde said, “The commissioner’s office placed a docket before the general body only to take it back, citing ‘technical problems’.
The hike was aimed at shoring up PMC’s revenue. Despite the legal victory, the administration’s decision to pull back the proposal has drawn criticism from corporators. “The administration must provide detailed information on why this review is necessary. If this delay or revision leads to a loss of revenue for the PMC, the administration must be held responsible.”