Outdoor advertising signs: Need to comply with regulations

The streets and urban centers of Thai Nguyen province are experiencing strong development of commercial and service activities. Along with this excitement is the blooming trend of outdoor signs and billboards. However, the management and compliance with regulations on advertising signs are posing many challenges, requiring synchronous solutions to bring these activities into order and in accordance with regulations.

Do not let illegal classified ads spoil the urban beauty

False advertising seen from the case of "a candy is worth a bunch of vegetables"

Many advertising signs are beautifully designed and colorful, but not all of them comply with the law.

Advertising signs have long been not only a tool to convey business messages, but also contribute to creating a unique appearance for each locality. There are many advertising signs that are carefully invested in, highly aesthetic, contributing to creating a unique beauty for each street, but it is still easy to encounter images that are not really "pleasing to the eye", difficult to understand, or even violate regulations on advertising signs. These "flaws" not only cause loss of urban beauty but also pose many potential safety risks.

Among them, the most common is the oversized advertising signs, which obstruct the view and encroach on space. Many advertising signs are erected right on the sidewalk or across the pedestrian path, hindering people's activities and causing loss of urban beauty.

In the trend of integration, the situation of billboards with foreign language words overwhelming Vietnamese appears quite commonly. This is partly due to the owners of establishments and businesses wanting to create "highlights" or impress and attract customers' attention.

However, this is a fairly common violation, because the Advertising Law stipulates that in cases where a foreign language is used, the foreign text must be placed below the Vietnamese text, and the size of the foreign text must not be larger than the size of the Vietnamese text.

In contrast to the system of advertising signs designed grandly, hung in "prime" locations, "fronts" of stores and high-rise buildings, there are advertising signs placed in inappropriate places. That is the situation of advertising signs hanging on electric poles, trees, or blocking the walkway, on the sidewalk...

In addition, many old, dilapidated signs... create an unprofessional image, spoil the urban beauty and pose a potential danger to people and vehicles nearby, especially in bad weather. Even signs decorated with flashing lights at night are too bright and cause glare, affecting passersby.

In reality, on the streets, it can be seen that most advertising signs are designed and hung according to the subjective wishes of the owners of shops and stores. Horizontal, vertical, square signs… not only depend on the “facade” but also the owner’s preferences.

Ms. T., owner of a furniture store in Phan Dinh Phung ward, said: Honestly, I asked the contractor to measure and find a way to cover the "facade" in a modern, impressive way, while also covering the house's defects... and did not pay attention to the regulations on advertising signs.

Ms. T.'s viewpoint and way of making effective advertising signs is also the common mentality of many shop and business owners. Even many people also learn about the regulations on advertising activities and advertising signs but their compliance is not high or they intentionally "circumvent the law".

Advertising signs contribute to beautifying the streets but not all of them comply with the law.

Mr. Vu Van Huong, Director of Viet Bac Advertising and Event Organization Company, frankly stated: The reality is that most of the establishments that print and make advertising signs do so according to the requirements of customers. Therefore, signs and billboards are often very diverse in types and sizes and do not follow any standards. Businesses want to create the most unique and impressive signs and billboards without paying attention to the legal regulations on this issue.

Ms. Duong Thuy Phuong, Deputy Head of the Department of Cultural Management, Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said: The management of advertising activities in the province is still difficult because the socio -economic development planning of localities has not been linked with the advertising planning of the province. The form of outdoor advertising by large panels, advertising on signs, billboards, and banners is not yet unified and does not follow standards; classified advertising by paper, printing paint on the walls of offices, public works... is still popular, causing loss of urban beauty.

In addition, many organizations and individuals do not notify the competent authorities of the advertising content, making it difficult to guide and manage. For advertising signs, the most common violations are oversized, installed in the wrong location, inappropriate content, especially the use of foreign languages ​​​​without Vietnamese according to regulations.

In 2024 and the first 6 months of 2025, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism received 263 dossiers of advertising product notifications, 100% of advertising notification dossiers were received and responded to correctly, within the prescribed time limit. However, in reality, there are still "grains of sand" (as mentioned in the article above) that need to be corrected so that the urban appearance is truly modern and civilized.

Some advertising signs on Bac Son Street, Phan Dinh Phung Ward, violate regulations on writing with foreign elements.

Faced with the above situation, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism will complete and advise the Provincial People's Committee to issue the Outdoor Advertising Plan in Thai Nguyen province for the period 2025-2030.

Along with that, all levels and sectors will focus on improving the effectiveness of state management; promoting propaganda and thoroughly implementing the Advertising Law and related legal documents to agencies, organizations, individuals, businesses...

Violations of advertising signs will be subject to administrative sanctions.

Placing billboards on sidewalks, pasting flyers on electric poles, building green trees; incorrectly or incompletely writing Vietnamese names on signs… are common violations in outdoor advertising activities that will be subject to administrative sanctions.

Article 48, Decree 38/2021/ND-CP stipulates administrative fines for violations of regulations on signs:

1. A fine of 5-10 million VND shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a) Failure to fully display on the signboard the name of the direct governing body; name of the production and business establishment in accordance with the business registration certificate or enterprise registration certificate; address and telephone number;

b) Using signs with sizes that do not comply with regulations.

2. A fine of 10-15 million VND shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a) Incorrectly or incompletely writing the Vietnamese name on the signboard;

b) Do not write in Vietnamese but only in foreign languages ​​on the signboard;

c) Display proper names, abbreviations, and international transaction names in foreign languages ​​above the Vietnamese name on the signboard;

d) Displaying the name, abbreviation, or international transaction name in a foreign language with a font size exceeding three-quarters of the Vietnamese font size on the signboard;

d) The height of the vertical sign exceeds the height of the floor where the sign is located.

3. A fine of 15-20 million VND shall be imposed for one of the following acts:

a) Hanging, erecting, placing, or attaching signs to block escape and fire escape spaces;

b) Hanging, erecting, placing, or attaching signs that encroach on sidewalks or roads, affecting public traffic;

c) Hanging, erecting, placing, or attaching signs that damage the aesthetics.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/xa-hoi/202507/bien-hieu-quang-cao-ngoai-troi-can-dung-quy-dinh-c560744/