New „Cadastral” Register of Advertisements Displayed in Public Places

In the midst of an increased legislative activity concerning building & planning laws, Hungary is implementing significant regulatory restrictions on advertising that spoils the urban visual environment.

Under the new measures, advertising devices intended to be installed in public areas (or in private areas visible from public areas) must be declared in advance to the Hungarian National Media and Infocommunications Authority (“NMHH”) by their owner.

If the advertising device complies with the applicable regulations protecting the townscape, the NMHH registers it in the recently introduced national advertisement cadastre. The new register contains information on the type, size, location of the advertising device, and the main personal data of the owner of the device.

The NMHH maintains the advertisement cadastre and charges a yearly fee for its contributions. According to the NMHH decree issued on January 23, 2024, the fee currently amounts to HUF 15,000 (EUR 39), which is payable per "advertising surface", meaning the part of an advertising device that can display one advertisement at a time.

From 1 July 2024, no advertisement may be placed on any advertising device that is not included in the national advertisement cadastre. In case of violation of the prohibition, the competent authority may impose a fine ranging from HUF 650,000 to 4,000,000 (EUR 1,690 to 10,399).

The main objective of the new measure is to protect the urban landscape from the placement of harmful advertising and to monitor the visual pollution of the environment.