The BBMP is planning to collect an additional fee for garbage collection from the first week of January. It will seek BESCOM’s help to collect Rs 200 from each household every month.
According to a survey conducted by BESCOM, Bengaluru Urban district has 60 lakh houses. The BBMP order was issued in July, but it had not started levying the fee. “This fee will be used towards paying the solid waste collection and transportation service providers who pick up the waste from doorstep,” says Randeep D, BBMP Special Commissioner, SWM told Metrolife.
“This is a charge levied for the specific service provided by BBMP for picking up solid waste. The fines for not segregating waste will continue,” informs Randeep.
BBMP is talking to BESCOM to include the user fee in their billing software. “They would collect the fee on our behalf and transfer it to us. BESCOM’s database is updated as they reach almost all waste generating households and commercial establishments,” he says.
To include the BBMP user fee, BESCOM will have to change its billing software. “We are in talks with Infosys, which handles our internal software. Nothing is finalised yet,” a BESCOM official says.
The last survey of Bengaluru, conducted by BBMP, was in 2017. It estimated 29 lakh houses, but the city has grown way beyond that number, officials say.
“Housing trends have changed. You see huge structures resembling apartment blocks and gated communities. Many buildings have been converted for commercial use. A fresh survey to ascertain the number of waste generators will be taken up soon,” Randeep says.
Solid waste cess is part of property tax which goes towards general cleanliness of streets. However solid waste user fee is specific to waste collection and residents who process and manage their waste within their premises may not come under its ambit, he explains.
“Unsegregated waste is often collected by unauthorised persons and residents are charged huge sums, even as the same waste comes back to be disposed at BBMP disposal sites. With this user fee being levied directly, we are actually ensuring BBMP becomes the sole waste collection authority (except for bulk waste generators); ruling out the role of such middlemen,” he says.
Mixed response
Citizens’ groups are divided on the move. Nalini Shekar, co-founder Hasiru Dala, favours it. “The sum of Rs 200 is not big. BBMP will have to put this user fee into an escrow account and use it only for solid waste management and paying pourakarmikas,” she says.
Dhanya, a resident of apartment complex Horamavu Samhita Sarovar, wonders why residents should pay an additional user fee when they are already paying property tax and a solid waste management cess. “The BBMP has been collecting garbage using its own resources all these years, why should they levy a fee now?” she wonders.
Philip William George, former president of the Horamavu-Agra Resident Welfare Association, welcomes the user fee. He says that the fee collected must be utilized only for the purpose of garbage collection and maintenance of the same and not diverted for other projects. “BBMP must allot funds for definite works. The pourakarmikas need to be paid well. Sometimes, the auto tippers that collect waste are seen overflowing with garbage. This could pose health issues not only for the workers, but the residents as well,” says Philip.