 "Delhi residents to pay monthly fee for garbage pickup: Details here")
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has announced that it will no longer provide free garbage pickup services to residents. Instead, a new fee structure has been introduced, where residents will have to pay a monthly user charge for door-to-door garbage collection.
This decision comes seven years after the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2018, were notified in the national capital, but the charges were not implemented until now.
New fee structure
The new fee structure varies based on the size of the property:
-Residential properties:
-Up to 50 sq m: ₹50/month
-50–200 sq m: ₹100/month
-Above 200 sq m: ₹200/month
-Street vendors: ₹100/month
For an average homeowner, this translates to an extra annual expense ranging from ₹600 to ₹2,400 on top of the standard property tax.
-Commercial properties:
-Shops and eateries: ₹500/year
-Guesthouses/dharamshalas: ₹2,000/year
-Hotels (3-star and above): ₹5,000/year
-Banks/coaching centres: ₹2,000/year
-Clinics, labs (50+ beds): ₹4,000/year
-Restaurants with 50+ seats: ₹3,000/year
-Marriage halls: ₹5,000/year
-Small-scale industries with hazardous waste: ₹3,000/year
AAP, RWAs slam move
The introduction of these charges has sparked widespread criticism across Delhi. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), currently in power in the MCD, has vehemently opposed the move, calling it "unilateral" and "anti-people." Mayor Mahesh Kumar Khichi and Leader of the House Mukesh Goel have demanded the immediate withdrawal of the charges, arguing that they were implemented without any recent discussion in the corporation's monthly assembly.
Khichi said the private concessionaires appointed by the corporation were failing to carry out door-to-door waste collection. “The proposal dates to 2016 and the commissioner is now implementing it on the BJP’s direction. They want us to take blame for it,” the mayor said.
Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) have also criticised the move, arguing that the move punishes honest taxpayers while allowing non-taxpayers to evade responsibility. Only about 1.3 million of Delhi's 4.3 million households pay property tax, raising questions about the fairness and implementation of the new charges.
The controversy has become a political flashpoint in the MCD, with both the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opposing the move. The BJP is poised to take over the MCD leadership, and this decision is seen as part of the BJP's strategy to strengthen its presence in Delhi. The AAP, on the other hand, is fighting to maintain its influence in the corporation.