Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is planning to start taking the user fee along with property tax beginning from the 2025-26 financial year, as per a report by Deccan Herald. Starting April 1, Bengaluru residents will now be required to pay an additional fee on top of their property tax bills. A new user charge for domestic waste collection and disposal, validated by the Karnataka Government.
The policy will be applied to all domestic waste generators in Bengaluru, as per the Deccan Herald report.
The breakdown of the fee structures consisted of six slabs decided by the property size. Properties with a carpet area of up to 600 sq ft will need to pay Rs 10 per month, while properties with a carpet area of 4,000 sq ft will have to pay Rs 400 per month.
Let’s say, a conventional three-storey building on a 30X40 sq ft area could face a monthly fee of Rs 150. This feed will be an additional cost to the preexisting Solid Waste Management (SWM) cess already taken as a component of property tax, which was supposed to fund the maintenance of public spaces.
The new charge is anticipated to generate around Rs 750 crore in annual revenue, as per the report. As per the BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath, Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited’s (BSWML) fund allocation was increased to Rs 1,400 crore. He said, “We hope to generate at least ₹750 crore from the user fee. The remaining amount will be provided to BSWML from our other revenue sources,” as quoted in the Deccan Herald report.
To draw a comparative picture, the agency earlier used to get Rs 1,085 crore BBMP funds.
However, the official order is yet to be given. Meanwhile, Deputy CM D K Shivakumar who heads the Urban Development Department, had approved the proposal earlier this year. BBMP has now plans to start taking the user charge in addition to property tax beginning from the 2025-26 financial year as notified by BBMP BBMP Special Commissioner (Finance) Dr. Harish Kumar P during the recent city budget, the report added.
Additionally, this also marked the first time BBMP had formally addressed the implementation of a user fee for household waste management, even though BSWML had given its proposal in November 2024, citing the Waste Management Rules, 2016 and multiple court orders.
However, this order does not have everyone’s concerted opinion. Poongothai Paramasivam of the Bengaluru NavaNirmana Party (BNP) raised a question on the need for a new charge: “BBMP has abundant funds. Before considering a user fee, it must be justified why the existing budget is insufficient. Where is the money going? Why is there no audit or public disclosure of SWM expenditures? as quoted by the Deccan Herald.
She also said that while Swachh Survekshan guidelines enable urban bodies to take these fees, “it is not mandatory.”
