Soon to be history: Billboards vie for attention over an underpass in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta. Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama plans to ban billboards on the grounds that the system used to tax them is chaotic.(JP/Jerry Adiguna)
The Jakarta administration issued Gubernatorial Regulation No. 224/2015 on billboard advertising late last year, setting new and stricter rules for advertisers in the city.
City development and environment official Gamal Sinurat said that the regulation was aimed not only at protecting the city's billboard tax income, but also making it look nicer.
"The regulation is aimed at ensuring order and improving the city's aesthetics," Gamal told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
There are now four categories of area for billboard advertising: strict-control, moderate-control, low-control and special areas. There are also restricted areas where all types of advertising are prohibited.
According to Gubernatorial Regulation No. 23/2006, strict-control areas are Jl. Rasuna Said, Jl. Jenderal Gatot Subroto and Jl. Jenderal Sudirman in South Jakarta, as well as Jl. MH Thamrin in Central Jakarta. The new regulation extends the strict-control area to inc lude Jl. Prof. Dr. Satrio in South Jakarta and Jl. MT Haryono, Jl. S. Parman, Jl. Gajah Mada and Jl. Hayam Wuruk in Central Jakarta.
Article 9 of the regulation stipulates that only LED billboards may be installed as advertisements in areas under strict control, while regular billboards and neon signs may only display the name, logo, activity and profession of individuals or companies occupying a building. In strict-control areas, billboards can only be installed above or on the walls of buildings and police posts are not allowed to carry any kind of advertising.
Similarly, Article 10 stipulates that only LED billboards may be used for advertising in moderate-control areas, which includes almost all of Jakarta. Regular billboards, neon and pylon signs are only allowed to show names and directions of buildings.
All LED billboard owners, Agus continued, had to reserve 30 percent of their broadcast hours for public-service announcements from the central government or the Jakarta administration. All billboard owners must also install three CCTV cameras near their boards, which must be connected with the city administration's servers.
According to the regulation, the billboard tax is fixed at 25 percent of the billboard's rental cost. Companies that own billboards may determine their own contract value — covering construction, installation, maintenance and electricity costs — which ultimately determine the rental fee charged.
Further, cigarette advertisements are completely prohibited in both outdoor and indoor spaces.
Separately, Jakarta Tax Agency head Agus Bambang Setyowidodo said that advertisers must seek an advertising permit at the Jakarta one-stop integrated service (PTSP) agency. The city administration, Agus continued, had set lower billboard tax-revenue targets this year as part of its transition to the new regulation.
This year, the city expects Rp 1.15 trillion (US$82.9 million) in billboard tax revenue , significantly lower than the 2015 target of Rp 1.8 trillion, of which only Rp 741.6 billion was realized.
Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama encouraged all buildings located in the billboard areas to install LED billboards, and said that the city would begin taking down billboards in breach of the new regulation.
"Some billboards still have ongoing contracts. We will take them down as soon as the contracts finish," Ahok said recently.
The billboards association could not be reached for comment.
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