To provide better waste management facilities, the BMC has proposed to levy solid waste management (SWM) charges on Mumbaikars. While civic officials have maintained that the objective of imposing such a tax is to strengthen the SWM infrastructure of the civic body, sources in the BMC also said the move is aimed at generating revenue.
Civic officials said municipal bodies have been empowered by the Government of India in the Solid Waste Management Rules (2016) to levy a ‘user fee’ on citizens for better waste management. Officials said the levy would be an added component to the property tax bracket, which would be used to offset transportation costs, recycling methods and waste management. BMC officials said the fee amount has not been decided yet.
“Currently, municipal bodies like Pune and Delhi have already levied this fee on citizens. Currently, there are 26 municipal wards and our target is to earn Rs 150-200 crore through this fee from these wards,” said a civic official.
BMC officials said municipal bodies in Pune are charging between Rs 100-500 depending on whether the entity is commercial or residential, and the charges proposed in Mumbai could be added as an additional component to the property tax bracket.
“Those with less than 500 square feet of land are currently exempted from paying property tax, but they may have to pay the levy once it is levied. Under the property tax bracket, we already have a component of sewerage tax and water charges. SWM charges will be another component of it,” the official said.
Meanwhile, sources in the civic body said the introduction of this new fee is aimed at generating more revenue for the BMC. The SWM department is one of the highest recipients of BMC’s budget, the entire amount coming from BMC funds. Since 2015, there has been no increase in property tax rates, the BMC’s primary source of revenue, which is also affecting its financial health.
“The entire SWM work requires a large corpus, and the rules mandate that housing societies should be responsible for waste segregation, which is not really being followed, and no penalty has been levied for many years. Therefore, SWM in the city is now required to provide a better level of services. It is important to enforce the charges,” the official said.
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