Signboard Licence: DBP Vetting and the Bahasa Malaysia Rules

Most guides tell you that Kuala Lumpur is the city where Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka has to approve your signboard wording, as though it were a KL quirk.

It is not. DBKL, MBPJ, MBSA and DBKK all require it, each in its own published words. The thing that genuinely differs between councils is not whether DBP vets your sign — it is the size rule the council layers on top afterwards. And the Kuala Lumpur size rule is not the one that gets repeated.

Where the requirement comes from

The enabling power is s.102(c) of the Local Government Act 1976: by-laws “to regulate, license, restrict, prevent or remove the exhibition of advertisements”. The Sarawak equivalent is s.91(b) of the Local Authorities Ordinance 1996; in Sabah it sits in s.49(1) of the Local Government Ordinance 1961.

In Kuala Lumpur the operative instrument is the Undang-Undang Kecil Iklan (Wilayah Persekutuan) 1982, P.U.(A) 187/1982, as amended by P.U.(A) 364/1985.

Note carefully where the duty sits. DBP certification is not itself a statutory obligation on your business. The by-law requires the advertisement to be in Bahasa Malaysia; the council then requires a DBP endorsement as an application document. DBP verifies. The council compels.

The DBP step

The service is DBP Sah Bahasa, run through DBP’s portal at dbpsahbahasa.my and linked from DBP’s own official page. Published fees are RM60 per council for advertisements — outdoor billboards, pillar advertisements, electronic advertising — and RM30 per council for signage, which covers business premise signs, banners, bunting, posters, vehicle wraps, notices and labels.

The per-council pricing matters: if you have outlets under three different councils, that is three submissions. DBP’s client charter puts the turnaround for the online service at three working days (the legacy counter standard was one working day), so build that into your timeline before fabrication.

All four councils name the requirement explicitly. DBKL asks for one colour signboard visual certified by DBP. MBPJ requires DBP spelling endorsement for every advertisement illustration and links the portal directly. MBSA names DBP with its phone numbers and portal, and reserves the right to reject a visual even after DBP has certified it if the council considers it unsuitable. DBKK requires the visual to be referred to DBP for certification.

The Bahasa Malaysia rule — and the KL misreading

The Kuala Lumpur by-law, as reproduced with its gazette citations in DBP’s own procedure document, says three things:

1. An advertisement shall be in Bahasa Malaysia, either alone or together with another language.
2. The Bahasa Malaysia words and letters shall be given priority in colour and in a more prominent position than words or letters in any other language used, and the size of the other language shall not exceed that of the Bahasa Malaysia.
3. A registered firm, society or company name that consists of or includes non-Malay words need not be translated.

Read limb 2 precisely. It is a ceiling on the other language, not a floor requiring Bahasa Malaysia to be larger. Equal size complies. DBKL’s own portal wording is correspondingly qualitative — Bahasa Melayu to be prioritised in size, colour and position — and no percentage appears anywhere.

That distinction matters because other councils do publish percentages, and those percentages get quoted as though they were national law.

Council	Published rule
DBKL	Priority in colour and position; the other language must not exceed the Bahasa Malaysia size. No percentage
MBPJ	Bahasa Malaysia lettering 30% larger than other languages, prioritised in position, correct grammar
MBSA — premise signs	Company activity stated in Bahasa Malaysia, 5% larger than the company name and positioned above it
MBSA — bunting and banners	Bahasa Malaysia 30% larger than other languages and prioritised in position
DBKK	Bahasa Malaysia required, alone or with another language. No size or position rule published

MBSA adds a restriction the others do not: foreign scripts other than English, Mandarin and Tamil are not permitted at all, and Jawi is encouraged.

There is no nationwide percentage. Four councils produced four positions. Any guide quoting a single figure for Malaysia is generalising from one council.

How fees are computed

Three different bases, which is itself the point.

• DBKL — per square metre, priced from the first square metre with an increment thereafter, with separate schedules for lamp-post advertisements, temporary displays, balloons and banners, each carrying its own deposit.
• MBPJ — per square metre with an eight square metre threshold, then increments. The security deposit equals the approved licence fee, is charged once at first approval, and is refundable when the sign comes down.
• MBSA — flat per unit for bunting and banners rather than by area, with the permit, pole, sticker and deposit itemised separately, and a maximum display period of one month.
• DBKK — per square metre per year, with streamers priced per piece per day and banners converted to a daily rate.

One anomaly worth flagging before you budget. MBPJ’s own October 2024 composite-licence guide sets out two tables in sequence. The standard premise-signboard table prices as expected — unlit RM100 a year (up to 8 m²) plus RM10 per extra m², lit RM150 a year plus RM15 per extra m². But the logo-type table immediately below it inverts that: unlit RM200 a year plus RM20 per extra m², lit RM150 a year plus RM15 per extra m² — so an unlit logo sign is priced above the lit one. DBKL’s premise signboard table is reported to invert the ordering the same way, but its per-square-metre fee schedule is no longer reachable at its published URL, so the DBKL figure still needs council confirmation before you rely on it.

What happens if you put one up anyway

Section 102(c) expressly includes the power to remove an advertisement, which is the statutory basis for a takedown. Section 104 caps by-law penalties at a fine up to RM2,000, imprisonment up to one year, or both, plus RM200 for each day the offence continues after conviction — and DBKL’s business licensing by-law mirrors that ceiling exactly.

In practice the lever councils reach for first is not prosecution. It is forfeiture of the deposit when a sign is not removed.

Common mistakes

• Fabricating the signboard before DBP certifies the wording. The certified visual is an application document; a fabricated sign that fails vetting is a sunk cost.
• Assuming DBP approval is the end of it. MBSA reserves the right to reject a visual it considers unsuitable despite DBP certification.
• Applying the 30% rule in Kuala Lumpur. The KL by-law caps the other language at the Bahasa Malaysia size; it sets no percentage.
• Translating your brand name. A registered company, firm or society name in another language need not be translated.
• Applying for the signboard licence alone in Petaling Jaya. MBPJ will not accept it without an accompanying premise licence application.

What’s next

Draft the wording first, run it through DBP Sah Bahasa for every council you have premises in, and only then get quotes for fabrication. Then read your own council’s size rule off its own page — because the four we checked disagreed with each other.