NEW DELHI: The Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) recent decision to levy user charges for solid waste management along with property tax has triggered widespread criticism from Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) across the city.
The hike in charges—applicable to both commercial and residential properties—has been termed abrupt and lacking ground-level considerations by several civic groups.
The charges are being levied in accordance with the Solid Waste Management Bye-Laws, 2017, framed by the Central Government and notified by the Delhi Government through three separate gazette notifications on January 15, 2018. However, despite official approval seven years ago, the MCD had not implemented or collected the user fee until now.
While RWAs acknowledged the importance of waste management under the Solid Waste Management (SWM) rules, they argued that the current approach is arbitrary and unfair to compliant taxpayers.
“Only one-third of the city’s dwelling units are currently registered under the property tax system. No visible initiatives have been undertaken by the MCD to expand the tax base or bring unregistered properties under its ambit,” a statement from the United Residents Joint Action (URJA), a consortium of 2,500 RWAs, read.
“Additionally, several residential colonies—including Vasant Kunj, Defence Colony, Munirka Vihar, and other group housing societies—already manage their waste disposal independently through private vendors. In such areas, the MCD’s waste collection vehicles are either redundant or play a negligible role,” the association added. It has urged the civic body to first streamline its internal processes and enforce equitable compliance before imposing additional charges on already registered and law-abiding residents.