Get ready to pay user charges for generating and handing over waste to Coimbatore Corporation, as the civic body has decided to resume collection. And, get ready to pay the dues too.
The corporation council, in a resolution dated November 30, 2021, said that it would start collecting user charges for waste generation as per the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016 and the bye-laws made thereunder.
Though it was supposed to deposit the user fee from the financial year 2017-18, it could not be done due to administrative reasons and it had to shut down the UTIS software in administration. Now the Corporation had resumed the use of UTIS software from August 2021 and hence decided to revive the user fee collection.
The council’s resolution states that the corporation will collect property tax for residential buildings and user fees for non-residential establishments as part of D&O licenses.
A senior official of the corporation said that the civic body which will collect the user fee from the 2017-18 financial year to the present, will do so in nine instalments. From the 2022-23 financial year, it will levy property tax or fee as part of the D&O licence. Total Rs. dues are to be recovered. 13 crore annually.
Corporation sources said the corporation had made a commitment to collect user charges for garbage collection to the central government after receiving funds under the erstwhile Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.
After missing out on the commitment, the civic body once again resolved to levy the fee, after the 2016 rules were framed by the central government. But the corporation abandoned the move in 2017 due to opposition from political parties.
The corporation had estimated collections of around ₹20 crore for the 2017-18 financial year, but it collected less than ₹1 crore, sources said, adding that the poor collection was due to opposition from political parties.
The recent move to revive user fee collection comes days after the corporation asked apartments and commercial establishments such as bulk waste generators to make their own arrangements to process waste.
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