The Deccan Herald 26.10.2010
Now, Palike comes up with garbage cess
Bangalore, Oct 25, DHNS
As the city residents brace up to pay betterment charges, the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike has come out with garbage cess.
The tax, being imposed after a gap of six years, will be levied on the property tax. Proposed with the objective of boosting the revenue of an otherwise cash-starved Palike, the cess will be collected from the current financial year.
The BBMP officials say that the cess ensures revenue generation from the garbage disposed off in the City. “It will help us in awarding the contracts for garbage collection,” the Taxation and Finance Committee Chairman, P N Sadashiva told Deccan Herald.
Lowest tariff
The lowest tariff is fixed on residential properties (see the table). The highest cess of Rs 7,200 per year is proposed on hotels, nursing homes and marriage halls with an area of over 5,000 sq feet.
However, street vendors will not be brought under the bracket as they do not fall under the property tax net.
Additional revenue
The cess, not proposed in the budget, was in fact added in the revenue estimates presented by the Palike. Sadashiva was hopeful that the cess will yield a minimum of Rs 150 crore for the current financial year.
Sources said that the proposal mooted during the reign of S M Krishna was not given effect to due to lack of implementation procedures.
The cess is likely to raise the bars of cleanliness and also ensure more responsibility on the BBMP to clear the daily pile up of garbage across the City.
