Illegal LED hoardings in Bengaluru: Karnataka High Court seeks status report from GBA

The Karnataka High Court Thursday directed the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) to file a status report detailing the actions taken against unauthorised LED boards across Bengaluru. The court noted that multiple screens are displaying commercial advertisements for unrelated products and services, in direct breach of their permitted conditions.

A division bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K S Hemalekha also said that any regularisation of any alleged illegal hoarding would be subject to an order of the court that may be passed. Further, the court has directed the GBA to file its detailed response to the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by one K Laxmana.

Advocate Anirudh A Kulkarni, appearing for the petitioner, submitted to the court that self-advertisement LED hoardings are being put up at busy traffic junctions in the city, and even some schools have put them up and are showing commercial advertisements.

He said, “It may never be known that a road accident happened because the vehicle driver was busy watching advertisements displayed on the LED boards.”

Kulkarni submitted photos and videos of the LED boards, stating that if permission was granted for self-advertisement, then displaying commercial advertisements is illegal. He said the GBA must take action in this situation..

The PIL points out that the GBA issued the Greater Bengaluru Area (Advertisement) Rules, 2025 (published January 13, 2026), which effectively attempts to legitimise these illegal activities. Specifically, Rule 8(7)(vii) provides a “one-time opportunity” for owners of self-advertisement LED boards to convert them into commercial LED displays by paying a designated fee.

Kulkarni also claimed that the LED boards are becoming a traffic hazard, and there is no enforcement being done by the GBA in removing the illegal hoardings. “Some are on the footpaths and set back areas,” he argued.

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The counsel for the GBA informed the court that notices had been issued, and if the LED boards are found displaying commercial advertisements, then action will be taken against them.

The petition filed by Laxmana states that the proliferation of LED advertisements constitutes severe ‘visual pollution’, which is a facet of the Right to Environment guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. The GBA (Advertisement) Rules, 2025, fail to prescribe any mechanism for oversight and to monitor and regulate this visual pollution.

It is also noted that Bengaluru traffic police have no supervisory role in granting permissions for LED hoardings, despite obvious traffic safety implications. “There is no system to monitor whether LED boards are displaying commercial advertisements in violation of self-advertisement permissions, nor any mechanism to regulate brightness, colour intensity, or display timing.”

The matter will be heard next on July 16.

Prolonged commercial advertisement issue in Bengaluru

In 2017, the High Court took serious note of the uncontrolled spread of hoardings and flex boards that were impacting the city skyline. As a result, the court ordered the BBMP to remove all illegal hoardings in the city and to pass a resolution banning all outdoor advertisements for a year. In response to the court’s directive, the BBMP Council unanimously passed a resolution in 2018, imposing a complete ban on commercial hoardings.

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In 2021, the state government published the BBMP Advertisement Rules, 2021, which sought to bring back commercial hoardings. However, in the same year, the 2021 Rules were subsequently withdrawn due to public opposition.

Then on July 17, 2025, BBMP (now GBA) notified the BBMP Advertisement Bye-Laws, 2024 under the Greater Bengaluru Governance Act, 2024, which replaced the earlier 2006 and 2018 bye-laws. The 2024 bye-laws allowed commercial hoardings to return through a public auction/tender system, including digital or LED advertisements.

The petition has prayed to declare that the permissions granted for self-LED advertisements without the written permission of the Chief Commissioner under the BBMP Act, 2020, and without proper delegation orders, are illegal, void ab initio, and non est in the eyes of law.

Further, Rule 8(7)(vii) of the Greater Bengaluru Area (Advertisement) Rules, 2025, which allows conversion of self-LED advertisements to commercial LED advertisements through a one-time opportunity process, is arbitrary, capricious, unconstitutional, and liable to be struck down.