The Taipei City Government is refraining from fining businesses that illegally put up advertisements in the Xinyi District (信義), missing out on at least NT$200 million (US$6.12 million) in annual revenue, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Hung Chien-yu (洪健益) said.
At a question-and-answer session at the city council yesterday, Hung asked Construction Management Office division head Liang Chih-yuang (梁志遠) how many times the agency had fined private firms for signs and advertisements they have put up without permission, to which Liang could not provide an answer.
Hung said the office expects to add NT$2 million to the city’s coffers from fines it collects from people who illegally hang signs, but it has applied “double standards” by targeting only ordinary citizens, while interceding on behalf of large corporations, which Hung said are often the most blatant violators.
Showing photographs he took around Xinyi District, Hung said the firms that can afford to display advertisements in the district are often extremely wealthy, as the monthly rents they pay to put up signs range from NT$800,000 to NT$5 million.
Citing Article 95, Clause 3 of the Building Act (建築法), he said those who fail to register with the office before putting up an advertisement on a building face a fine of between NT$40,000 and NT$200,000, and that at least 600 advertisements in the district were put up without following due procedure.
Since marketing firms are required to file an application with the office every time a new advertisement is displayed, Hung said that, based on a minimum fine of NT$40,000 a month, the city government would have gained at least NT$200 million in revenue if it had fined all of the violators.
He said that although most of the spaces that contain advertisements belong to the private sector, one overhead passage connecting the two buildings of Vieshow Cinema’s Xinyi branch had been inappropriately sealed off by advertisements, posing a threat to public safety, as the practice could obstruct rescue work during a fire.
Hung said the overhead passage had been ceded by the movie theater to the city government in July, as it is located in a plot owned by the government, but the theater has continued to lease out the structure for profit.
Hung asked Liang, Department of Urban Development Commissioner Lin Jou-min (林洲民), officials at the Department of Government Ethics and the Fire Department to remove any illegally hung advertisements, set revenue goals for fining violators and to review the potential safety issues associated with illegal advertisements.
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