Gurugram Property Tax Garbage Collection Sanitation Charge Mcg Rwa Protest

Residents had first flagged this issue in April. At the time, senior officials in the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) had said the garbage levy was an error and would be rectified soon.

Kusum Sharma, chairperson of the Suncity Township Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA), questioned why the levy was for registered bulk waste generators (BWGs) like them that collect, segregate and process wet waste on their own.

“Residents are confused… some are instigating others to not pay the sanitation component of society maintenance fees… there is a lot of confusion. They should rename the charge if they intend to keep it,” she said.

However, the bone of contention is the change in stance of the civic body.

In April, an official had told The Indian Express on condition of anonymity that they “are likely to defer the levy till a door-to-door garbage collection system is in place”.

Now, senior officials said the charge is not for collection of garbage but holistic sanitation services.

“The charges are for all sanitation services that MCG provides, not just garbage collection. It will be renamed; we have raised this several times with the HQ (Department of Urban Local Bodies). It includes road sweeping, legacy waste management, and other sanitation activities that the MCG does and that everyone benefits from, including self-managing BWGs.” an official said.

To be sure, the MCG does not have a permanent mechanism in place for door-to-door garbage collection, segregation and processing. A tender issued earlier this month had to be recalled as bidders sought higher-than-quoted tariffs for every tonne of waste processed.

At present, the civic body relies on informal labour-based stopgap measures, outsourced to various contractors. Several sectors manage on their own, with collectors collecting between Rs 50-150 per household.

The MCG’s argument is not cutting ice with all.

Bhawani Shankar Tripathy, Sector 23A RWA general secretary, said sanitation is the first and one of the primary municipal services that an urban local body is obliged to provide to citizens.

“Legally, the MCG cannot charge residents for road sweeping. As per the 12th Schedule of the Constitution, functions of urban local bodies include keeping the city clean, which is an obligatory duty. The MCG cannot charge for an obligatory function… as an agency, it is obliged to fulfil that function,” said Tripathy.

As of now, the portal allows residents to pay the property tax component but not clearing the garbage charges means one cannot generate a ‘no dues’ certificate.

“This is not good governance. No other municipal bodies in Haryana are charging this. How can the MCG charge this in Gurgaon?” Puneet Pahwa, general secretary of the Sector 45 RWA, said