KOCHI: Ever wondered why garbage collection from your household has been irregular in recent times in the city? Well, because you don't offer 'tips' to the corporation staff like restaurants and other eateries in the city.

According to sources, restaurant owners reportedly pay Rs 100 to Rs 1,000 extra (depending on the quantity of waste) to ensure regular collection of waste by the corporation, thanks to the local body's failure to fix a rate for the same. However, health standing committee chairman T K Asharaf said the corporation would introduce a new system for collecting waste from restaurants in the next fiscal.

"We will fix a charge for restaurants after we buy new vehicles for waste collection. But due to the delay in getting funds from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), we have not been able to buy vehicles. So the implementation of the project had to be postponed to the next fiscal," Asharaf said. "We pay the corporation staff to ensure that waste is collected regularly," said a restaurant owner. He also expressed his apprehension over the corporation's plan to introduce a new system as staff may continue to levy money from them. The Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA) said they had set up a biogas plant in the corporation land a few years ago for treating waste from restaurants. But the lack of support from corporation staff forced them to close it down.

There are over 1,200 restaurants and eateries in the corporation area.

Even though the corporation is not charging anything from restaurants, municipalities have been charging Rs three to treat a kg of waste.