CHENNAI: The city corporation has decided to roll back the user fee for garbage collection that it intended to implement from January 1 next year, on the request of representatives from residents and traders associations, according to a release on Thursday.
With the implementation of the user fee from the start of next year, the Greater Chennai Corporation had expected to bring in approximately Rs 80 crores as revenue annually, according to senior corporation officials.
"This (user fee) has been suspended temporarily. We have not decided on when to start implementing it," a senior Corporation official said.
Only a day earlier, the city corporation had announced that city residents would have to pay user charges to the civic body for garbage collection according to Solid Waste Management Rules, 2019. However, on Thursday, a fresh statement said that due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, residents and traders associations had requested the rollback of the garbage user fee.
Hence, it will not implement the user fee collection from January as planned, on the instructions of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister 'Edappadi' K Palaniswami, the statement said.
The user fee was fixed based on the size and nature of the buildings. For instance, residential buildings with a built up area of up to 500 square feet will have to pay Rs 10, residences from 501-1200 square feet were to pay Rs 25, for residences with an area of 1201-2400 square feet, Rs 50 had to be paid and Rs 100 for residences over 2400 square feet.
Bulk generators like commercial establishments and schools would have had to pay Rs 500 a month. The charges were to be paid along with the property tax.