BENGALURU: Hotel owners and commercial associations in Bengaluru have decided to approach Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, urging him to intervene and roll back the newly implemented garbage cess, calling it ‘unscientific’ and financial burdensome.
As per the BBMP’s new structure, properties with a 1,000 sqft area are required to pay Rs 2,000 per month as cess, amounting to Rs 24,000 annually. For hotels and lodges, the rate has been fixed at Rs 4,000 per month, which is Rs 48,000 per year.
PC Rao, president of Bruhat Bengaluru Hotels Association, voiced concerns over the impact on small business owners.
“The new cess on garbage is an extra burden and is very unscientific. It will be burdensome for small hotels to pay Rs 48,000 per 1,000 sqft annually. We will ask the DCM to decrease the cess rates,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru Apartment Federation (BAF), which represents over 1,300 apartment complexes, has also raised objections. Satish Mallya, vice president of BAF, pointed out that apartment residents were being subjected to double taxation— once under the new garbage cess and again through the user fee paid individually. “Bulk generators, including apartments, are already charged,” he said.
Following a meeting with BBMP Solid Waste Management Chief Harish Kumar, Mallya said the officials had assured them that revisions would be made. “For apartment complexes with more than 100 flats, individuals will no longer be charged separately. The user fee will be collected only from the association if the waste generated exceed 100 kilograms per day,” he said.
BAF further argued that apartments are being unfairly targeted. “We are paying Rs 12 per kilo in user fees, just like apartments, hospitals, schools and commercial complexes but only apartments are told to segregate waste. On top of that, old apartment building don’t have the infrastructure for composting, yet they are being pressured to do so,” Mallya said.