The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has threatened to cancel the trade licence of commercial establishments under its jurisdiction, if they fail to feature Kannada prominently on their display boards – occupying as much as 60% of space – by February 28. They have also threatened to take legal action against those defying the rule.

The Municipal corporation will soon identify and notify establishments which do not adhere to the rules and feature Kannada language prominently on their name boards.  

The decision in this regard was taken by BBMP chief Tushar Girinath on Sunday, December 24, following a meeting with the pro-Kannada organisation Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV), which is aggressively promoting the use of Kannada in the state.   

As per state government rules, commercial establishments are required to use Kannada prominently on their name boards. But barring a few protests, this rule was never enforced strictly. 

According to Deccan Herald, the BBMP will take up a survey of all the 1,400 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads in Bengaluru to identify shops without Kannada in their name boards. The civic organisation is also scheduled to have a meeting with mall owners and give them 15-20 days to comply with the rule.

KRV claimed that they had renewed their campaign to promote Kannada reportedly after a recent incident in Hebbal where a mall refused to adhere to the Kannada language rule. 

Recently, KRV created a disturbance in Chickpet, targeting Marwari vendors for not using Kannada sign boards. On December 20,  they organised a protest in Bengaluru, advocating for the increased prominence of Kannada on shop signboards.