The
civic body plans to increase solid waste management cess (garbage cess)
on bars and restaurants and other commercial establishments by bringing
in changes to trade licence rules.

Mayor BN Manjunath Reddy told
TOI the increase in garbage will call for more waste management staff
and additional financial expenses. “We will hold a meeting with standing
committees of health, finance and taxation, on revising garbage cess on
commercial establishments, and decide on the percentage of increase,”
he added.

Nightlife extension could also mean rearranging the
schedule of garbage collection in commercial hubs. “We will be telling
bars and restau rants and other establishments to segregate and package
garbage to be disposed of in two shifts per day,” he said.

A
higher cess will come as a blow to commercial establishments, which are
yet to recover from the massive hike in annual fee on trade licences
introduced early this year.

Starting
February 1, the BBMP’s Taxation and Finance Committee raised the fee,
citing Section 443(2)(a) of the Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act. For
seven-star hotels, the fee ranges from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, for
five-star hotels Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh, three-star hotels Rs 1 lakh to
Rs 2 lakh, and for bakeries using more than 10 HP power, the rate is Rs
5,000 to Rs 10,000.

The
manager of a barcum-restaurant on Church Street said the civic body
should consult all stakeholders before arriving at any conclusion on
garbage cess.”Garbage disposal is not being done scientifically by the
civic body . There is a lot of bribery involved even to pick up waste
from commercial hubs,” he added.

Indiranagar
resident Prakash K Raj’s worry is that eateries will pass on the
additional burden to customers.”Already , eating or drinking out is a
costly affair. If it becomes more expensive, extending nightlife will
mean little,” said Raj.