Kochi Corporation warns of ₹5,000 fine for unauthorised flex boards and banners

Unauthorised installations such as flex boards, banners, flags, and hoardings will attract a fine of ₹5,000 per item, along with legal action, the Kochi Corporation has warned.

The Corporation issued the directive after noticing several such unauthorised installations at various locations within its limits. The order, issued by the Corporation secretary, reiterated that all unauthorised flex boards, banners, flag arches, and hoardings erected in public spaces and along roads are being removed immediately, and fines are being imposed in compliance with a Kerala High Court order dated November 19, 2025.

However, it has come to notice that in several areas within the Corporation limits, such unauthorised flex boards, banners, flag arches, and hoardings are once again being installed in violation of the court order. These must be removed; failing which, a fine of ₹5,000 per board will be imposed and strict legal action, including the registration of a first information report (FIR), will be initiated, the statement said.

The Kerala High Court, in its order, had granted two weeks’ time to the secretaries of all local bodies in the State to ensure that unauthorised boards, banners, flags, festoons, and other materials put up by political parties and other entities were removed from public spaces. The court had directed that necessary action be taken against those responsible for such installations, while instructing the State Election Commission and District Election Officers to scrupulously monitor their respective jurisdictions and remove such materials.

Amicus curiae Harish Vasudevan informed the court that many handrails, pedestrian pathways, and related infrastructure still carried banners, boards, flags, and festoons of political parties and other organisations. The Senior Government Pleader subsequently submitted that the government had already issued instructions to the secretaries of local bodies to act in accordance with the directions of the earlier court judgment.

In January, the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation had faced sharp criticism from the court for failing to prevent the illegal installation of flex boards and banners across footpaths in the city.