BENGALURU: Property owners eager to pay their tax were in for a rude shock when they were asked to pay the Solid Waste Management user fee for 12 months in one go. Based on the size of the residential property, owners were levied fee ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 400 per month, which when multiplied for 12 months, came to Rs 120 to Rs 4,800. The rate varies for non-residential and empty sites, and has been levied from April 1.
“I usually pay my property tax in advance to avail the 5 per cent tax rebate offered to early birds by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). When I fed the property details, I was shocked to see a jump in the property tax. When I checked, I figured out that the civic body has levied garbage fee for 12 months based on built-up area, which was over Rs 2,000,” said a property owner in Koramangala.
Another flat owner in Ittamadu said that he was levied SWM user fee of Rs 1,200 for 12 months. Likewise, many unwitting property owners who headed to BBMP to avail the early bird rebate, were shocked to see their property tax going up.
“While I took some time and understood the hike, there are many who don’t understand the tax breakups. BBMP should give wide publicity that it has started collecting garbage fee along with regular property tax,” he said.
Property owners said that since BBMP is collecting high taxes from them, it should pull up its socks and keep the city clean by effectively managing the city’s garbage. If not, people will hit the streets in protest, he added.
While Bengaluru Solid Waste Management Limited CEO Harish Kumar was not available for comment, BBMP officials maintained that they were doing their duty and the garbage fee collection was announced in the budget.