Pay user fee for garbage collection from January

“We have already sent a proposal to the State government seeking approval for by-laws. The government is reviewing the proposal, which will be approved before the festival. The by-laws, once incorporated, will empower us to collect user fee,” said a senior official of Chennai Corporation.

According to the proposal, the civic body would collect Rs 10 to Rs 7,500 per month based on the extent of the buildings and their usage – whether commercial or residential. “Central government’s Solid Waste Management Rules mandate the local bodies to collect user fees from the building owners. After the receiving the approval, clauses of user charges will be incorporated in Chennai City Municipal Corporation Act, 1919,” the official added.

After the rules are incorporated, residential buildings with built area up to 500 sqft would have to pay Rs 10 per month to the civic body. For residential buildings with built up area between 501 sqft and 1200 sqft, the user fee will be Rs 25. In the case of residential buildings with a built-up area between 1,201 sqft and 2,400 sqft, the user fee will range from Rs 50 to Rs 100 a month.

Commercial establishments and schools, and places of worship would be charged Rs 500 per month for collecting waste. For the events to be held in open public spaces, except funerals and government awareness activities, the civic body would fix a fee ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000 based on the number of people participating.

When asked whether the private firms to be appointed by the civic body to carry out the conservancy works would collect the charges, the official said the charges would be collected only by the Corporation. “We will not collect user charges every month. Instead, residents can pay the charges along with the property tax once in six months,” he said.