BBMP notifies SWM user fee a week after it comes into force

A file photo of pourakarmikas collecting garbage from houses at Banashankari 2nd stage in Bengaluru.

A week after it came into effect on April 1, the city’s civic body finally issued a notification stipulating Solid Waste Management (SWM) user fee that property owners, of both residential and non-residential properties, need to pay along with their property tax. 

According to a circular issued by the civic body, the SWM user fee for residential properties has been fixed between ₹10 and ₹400 per month, depending on the size of the property. There are six slabs ranging from 600 sq.ft. to 4,000 sq.ft., translating into an annual fee ranging from ₹120 to ₹4,800. A senior BBMP official clarified that although this fee is integrated into the property tax system, it will not cause the total tax outgo to increase by more than 30% for residential property owners. Vacant site owners will be required to pay a nominal annual fee of ₹0.60 to the BBMP for waste management.

For non-residential establishments, the civic body has imposed higher SWM user fees, ranging from ₹2,000 to ₹35 lakh per year across ten slabs based on property sizes ranging between 1,000 sq.ft. and 5 lakh sq.ft. For hotels and lodges, including luxury and star-rated properties, the BBMP has introduced separate categories. These establishments will pay user fees ranging from ₹4,000 to ₹70 lakh, while upscale star hotels are liable to pay between ₹95,000 and ₹87.5 lakh annually, based on seven size slabs.

In the non-residential category, SWM user fee is subject to caps to prevent excessive increases in property tax. For properties with both self-occupied and rented portions, if the inclusion of the user fee pushes the property tax increase beyond 60%, the fee will be capped at that limit. For rented properties, the cap is set at 30%. Meanwhile, for hotels, lodges, and five-star establishments, the user fee will not exceed a 60% increase in the total property tax.  

The BBMP has also clarified that bulk waste generators, who produce more than 100 kgs of waste per day, such as large apartment complexes that manage their waste independently or through empanelled vendors will be exempt from this user fee. However, those who opt for BBMP’s waste collection services will be charged accordingly. The user fee for bulk waste generators is ₹12 per kg. 

A senior official from Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited (BSWML) stated that the goal is to ensure accountability in waste generation and disposal, while encouraging decentralised processing. By integrating the user fee with the existing property tax mechanism, the BBMP intends to streamline revenue collection and fund waste management initiatives more efficiently.