Proposes new SWM bylaws: BMC plans user fee for waste management; spitting, littering on roads to get costlier

The move to introduce SWM user fee was announced by Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani during the civic body’s budget presented in February.

The SWM bylaws, which came into existence in 2006, are a set of regulations under which SWM operations are carried out in Mumbai. “The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report of the government has mandated collection of user fee for all urban local bodies in Mumbai. Almost all the major civic bodies including Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkata had implemented it already. Therefore, as part of the new bylaws, we have proposed an introduction of these charges,” Deputy Municipal Commissioner (SWM) Kiran Dighavkar told the Indian Express. He also said that the user fee charges could be incorporated with the property tax bills in order to facilitate ease of payment for residents.

Meanwhile, according to the proposed guidelines, the BMC has increased the penalty of littering and spitting on roads to Rs 500 and Rs 250 from Rs 200. As per the proposal, Rs 300 will be fined from people bathing at public spaces, while the current penalty is Rs 100. Urinating and defecating at open will invite a penalty of Rs 500, compared to the existing fine of Rs 100.

The BMC has also proposed a penalty of Rs 200 on individual waste generators and Rs 1,000 on bulk waste generators (BWS) for delivering non-segregated waste. Earlier this week, the BMC had proposed to hike the penalty of garbage burning from Rs 100 to Rs 1,000. In the proposed guidelines, the authorities maintained that commercial properties found burning waste at public spaces will be charged Rs 10,000 as penalty. Penalty for littering and defecation of pets at public spaces have also been revised to Rs 1,000 from Rs 500.

The BMC has also proposed a penalty of Rs 20,000 for unauthorised dumping of constructing debris and Rs 25,000 for transporting construction debris without taking approval from authorities.

With the introduction of SWM charges, the authorities aim to generate an additional revenue of Rs 687 crore annually from residential units alone.

According to the proposed structure, residential units that have a built up area less than 50 square meters will be charged Rs 100 per month, units having an area between 50 square meters and 300 square meters will be charged Rs 500, while any residential unit above 500 square meters will have to pay Rs 1,000 every month.

Hotels and restaurants will be levied a monthly fee between Rs 1,500 and Rs 7,500 depending on their categorisation while clinics and dispensaries will be charged between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000 depending on their bed capacity. Commercial establishments like small shops will have to pay Rs 500, while banquets and public halls will have to pay charges between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,500 depending on their capacity.

“These are not the final rate of charges and penalties as we have released our draft. After recording the suggestion and objections the final draft of bylaws will be implemented,” he said.