Budapest bans giant billboards, slashes ad placements and raises taxi fares

The Budapest City Council approved a comprehensive overhaul of outdoor advertising. About 10,000 of the current 15,688 ad sites will be removed, eliminating all giant billboards and cutting the number of advertising columns to one‑fifth. Only citylight fixtures, line‑roof ads and a few traditional columns on the Nagykörút, Kiskörút, Bajcsy‑Zsilinszky, Andrássy, Rákóczi and Üllői avenues will remain. The new rules also prohibit advertising nets citywide and bar ads on the exterior of BKV (public‑transport) vehicles, while interior ads are permitted. The regulations take effect on 1 October, with a deadline of 31 December to take down prohibited units.

In the same session, the council approved a modest increase in taxi tariffs: the base fare rises to 1 300 HUF, the kilometre rate to 520 HUF and the per‑minute rate to 130 HUF, plus an 800 HUF airport surcharge. The advertising cuts are expected to reduce BKV’s ad revenue by roughly 1 billion HUF, about 0.5 % of its total income.