File Photo: Empty billboards in Cairo's main roads. Photo: AhramOnline
Under the rules, issued by the National Agency for Public Road Advertising Regulation (NAPRA) on Thursday, all illuminated signage, including digital screens, backlit boards and shopfront displays, must be switched off between 7 am and 5 pm.
Exemptions apply to signs equipped with automatic dimming sensors, which must reduce brightness to no more than 37.5 percent of operating capacity during the day and 4 percent at night, down from daytime and nighttime maximums of 75 percent and 8 percent, respectively.
Dimming must occur automatically, without manual intervention, the NAPRA stated.
Separate nighttime restrictions prohibit lighting on internal and main roads between midnight and 5 am, with tourist zones designated by the cabinet exempt.
Additionally, according to the NAPRA, all advertising units must now use high-efficiency LED lighting and be connected to automated timers or light sensors.
Ancillary equipment for digital screens, such as cooling fans and air conditioning units, must also meet energy-efficiency standards.
Iman Nabil, chief executive of the road-advertising agency, said regulating billboard lighting had become "a national necessity" and that the controls were designed to improve energy efficiency while keeping the advertising market viable.
She added that operators who breach prohibited hours or fail to meet brightness requirements face legal and administrative penalties under existing law.
The billboard lighting rules are the latest in a series of energy-saving measures Egypt has introduced in response to the fuel crisis triggered by the US-Israel war on Iran, which has sparked a global fuel shortage.
Initial steps, introduced in late March, included mandatory early closure of commercial venues — shops, malls, restaurants, cafes and nightclubs — by 9 pm daily, extended to 10 pm on Thursdays and Fridays.
Those restrictions were lifted on 27 April. Under the restored hours, shops and malls operate from 7 am to 11 pm, until midnight on Thursdays, Fridays and public holidays, while restaurants and cafes may remain open until 1 am.
Additional measures included mandatory remote work for government employees on Sundays, a temporary two-month slowdown of major fuel-intensive projects to reduce diesel and petrol use, and a directive requiring all government agencies to cut their consumption of petroleum products by 30 percent.
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