Sources said the corrupt officials of the DCC revenue section and its zonal offices have pocketed at least Tk 10 crore in the last two years by taking hefty payment from the advertising firms and illegally allowing them to carry on their business, depriving the DCC of the revenue.

Although the tax on advertisement was increased in five phases in the last two fiscals and the number of advertisements has also notably increased, the DCC revenue has witnessed a steep descent.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the legal battle between the DCC and 30 major ad firms, unauthorised advertising installations have mushroomed throughout the city in the last two years.

In FY2003-04, the DCC earned Tk 60 lakh against a target of Tk 9.62 crore from the advertising sector while in FY2004-05 it earned only Tk 10 lakh out of the targeted Tk 20 crore.

The advertisement section has been recently brought under the Estate Department of the DCC from the Revenue Department, forming a new committee headed by DCC Secretary Alamgir Hossain, aiming to improve the situation.

When the DCC sought applications from the ad firms for renewal of registration within July this year, a total of 216 firms submitted about 450 applications, said DCC Chief Estate Officer Abu Taleb, also member secretary of the advertisement affairs committee. But the firms applied for registration renewal for 2004 and 2005, leaving out 2003 although they had run their business in that year too, he added.

The DCC officials said there were around 7,566 hoardings, neon signs and other advertisement installations of 160 advertising firms in the capital when the contracts with the firms expired on June 30, 2003. By now, however, the number of advertisement installations by 250 ad firms has increased to at least 20,000.

The legal battle between the DCC and the ad firms began in May 2003, when the firms filed lawsuits against the increased tariff for setting up hoardings and outdoor advertisement signs.

According to the tax schedule of 2002, the rate for billboards was Tk 3 per square foot (sq ft) on private property and Tk 6 per sq ft on DCC or government-owned land, which were increased to Tk 50 and Tk 150. The general rate of Tk 30 per sq ft neon signs was increased to Tk 75 on private and Tk 150 on government land.

The DCC asked all the ad firms to apply for new contracts in compliance with this new tariff rate and guideline.

The firms, however, refused to accepted the increased tariff and the Outdoor Advertising Owners' Association (OAOA) filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging it. The High Court stayed the DCC orders, the corporation officials said.

Rafiqul Islam, president of OAOA, said increasing the tax to such high an extent is a violation of rules.

The case is yet to be disposed of at present but the stay order has been vacated.