KARACHI, Aug 4: The Sindh High Court upheld on Thursday the city district government’s authority to impose outdoor advertizement fee on manufacturers or dealers who publicize their products on their vehicles.

A writ petition was moved by Capital Industrial Enterprises, manufacturers of Diamond Foam. The petitioner said its vehicles carried its logo for identification. The CDGK provided no service to facilitate transportation of its product and was not, therefore, competent to recover any tax or fee and that the demand for payment of Rs152,400 made by the CDGK on account of outdoor publicity was liable to be set aside. The petitioner also requested release of one of its vehicles impounded by the CDGK for non-payment of the fee.

CDGK counsel Manzoor Ahmed submitted that the fee was recoverable under the local government bylaws. The petitioner’s vehicles not only carried its logo but were painted with publicity material showing a person resting on a foam mattress. The vehicles advertized the product and solicited custom. The demand was lawfully made and a vehicle was rightly seized by the CDGK when the petitioner company declined to make the payment.

The petitioner company, the counsel argued, approached the high court without exhausting all remedies. It could have challenged the levy by means of a departmental appeal before the city district government. The company, he said, was warned several times before a demand notice was issued to it and one of its vehicles was seized.

An SHC division bench dismissed the petition and upheld the CDGK notice for payment of the outdoor publicity fee by the petitioner.