Delhi govt against civic bodies' proposal for user charge on

The Delhi government has objected to the joint proposal of the civic bodies for allowing them to levy "user charge" on residential units and temples among others for door-to-door garbage collection, an official said.

The three municipal corporations, the New Delhi Municipal Council and the Delhi Cantonment Board had approached the Delhi Urban Development Department with a proposal for introducing "user charge", ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 200 per month, for domestic waste generators depending on the category of the locality.

The proposal also includes levying user charge of Rs 2,000 for collecting garbage from clinics, dispensaries and other places.
 

In a written comment on the proposal to Lt Governor Anil Baijal, Delhi Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain said there is no logic in levying user charge for solid waste management, and added that house tax is collected mainly for this purpose.

He said collection of garbage is covered under the "obligatory functions" according to the provisions under Section 42 of Delhi Municipal Corporation Act (66 of 1957).

"Charitable and religious institutions, including temples and dharamsalas need to be exempted from payment of user fee. Residential units in colonies falling in categories C to H prescribed for property tax categorisation should be exempted from the user fee," Jain said.

"In case of individual doctors' clinics, dispensaries, the user fee of Rs 2000 is too high and should be limited to Rs 100 at the maximum," he said.

The urban development minister said in some cases, the proposed user fee will work out to be much more than the entire property tax being paid by the owner and therefore needs to be reduced.

Currently, garbage collection is outsourced to various contractors, who collect waste from 'dhalaos' or dumps.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has been made the nodal agency the proposal on behalf of all the civic bodies. The proposal essentially seeks an amendment to the bye-laws related to sanitation under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957.