Hotel industry opposes BMC plans to collect use fee for garbage disposal
The solid waste management rules of 2016 define “user fee” as a charge imposed by the local body on a waste generator to cover full or part of the cost of providing door-to-door solid waste collection, transportation, processing and disposal services.
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The party has questioned Shiv Sena-run Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) over the project, which is only 40 per cent complete. (File)Looking at new measures to boost revenue income in the civic budget 2022-23, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has suggested collecting an additional fee from residential and commercial properties for collection, transportation and disposal of garbage. But the move has drawn opposition from sectors like the hotel industry, which claims it is being burdened with an unnecessary fee at a time when businesses have not recovered from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The BMC plans to mop up Rs 174 crore annually through this fee. But getting the user fee policy approved has proven an uphill task for the administration.
This will be the second attempt by BMC to levy user fees per solid waste management rules, 2016. A similar proposal to collect Rs 60 from each household, Rs 180 from hawkers, Rs 150 from hotels and Rs 120 from restaurants per month, among other establishments, was rejected in 2019. The solid waste management rules give power to local bodies to decide on the user fees.
The solid waste management rules of 2016 define “user fee” as a charge imposed by the local body on a waste generator to cover full or part of the cost of providing door-to-door solid waste collection, transportation, processing and disposal services.
The city generates more than 6,500 metric tonnes of garbage daily of which half is wet waste. An official from the solid waste management department said, “The fee structure has not been decided as yet. The fee will depend on the quantity of waste generated by the establishment. As per the SWM rules, the base fee the local bodies can collect is Rs 60 per month. The proposal, once finalised, will be tabled for approval.”
In the Budget speech on Thursday, Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal stated, “The estimated target of annual revenue to BMC through user fees will be around Rs 174 crore. Further, Mumbai has as many as 3,500 hotels that generate a large amount of wet waste. Most of it is currently transported and processed by BMC. Based on the minimum threshold, the estimated target of annual revenue to BMC from user fees and processing and disposal charges will be around Rs 26 crore.”
Chahal added, “The draft by-laws incorporating the user fees are currently under consideration and expected to be effective in 2022-23 after publishing the notification by the state government.”
Under Section 368(5) of the MMC Act, 1888, the BMC collects trade refuse charges from commercial establishments, including offices and hotels. These are collected to sweep, collect and deposit the waste produced while pursuing a trade.
Pradeep Shetty, senior vice president, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), said, “Hotel industry was one of the most severely Covid-impacted industries. Instead of being offered relief, it is being further burdened. Hotels are paying Rs 1.3-Rs 1.5 lakh on an average towards Trade Refuse Charges (TRC). The industry is not being offered any waiver on the statutory charges or any concession on water and electricity duties but is instead being expected to shell out more during its most trying times. Such an additional burden is against the principles of ease of doing business.”
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