MCD: BJP to roll back user charge on garbage collection, bring amnesty scheme for house tax dues

New Delhi, May 20 (PTI) The ruling BJP in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has announced to roll back levying of user charges on garbage collection and bring an amnesty scheme to settle old house tax dues, party leaders said on Tuesday.

The decisions were announced by Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva and city Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh.

“The previous AAP dispensation in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) imposed the user charge without any discussion. Officials have been instructed that no user charge should be imposed on people. We will bring a private resolution on this in the MCD House meeting on Wednesday," Singh said.

The mayor also said the BJP will bring an amnesty scheme under which previous dues of house taxes will be settled on depositing the pending dues of five years.

No penalty or late payment surcharge will be imposed and people will be provided no objection certificates by the MCD, showing settlement of house tax dues, Singh said.

Stating that the BJP discussed the issue with the prominent residents' welfare associations (RWAs), Sachdeva said the user charge on garbage collection was imposed "arbitrarily" by the AAP.

On Monday, AAP councillors held a sit-in outside the Delhi mayor's office, protesting the omission of a proposal to roll back the user charges from the House agenda.

The BJP won the post of mayor and deputy mayor in the MCD elections on April 25, and promised to roll back user charges on garbage collection.

On April 7, the MCD, then ruled by AAP, said that according to the solid waste management (SWM) bylaws, a "user fee" must be collected for garbage collection, transportation and disposal services.

"The user fee, as outlined in the SWM norms, is being implemented based on categories specified in the bylaws, and its enforcement is being monitored by the Supreme Court," the MCD had said. PTI VIT VIT ARI ARI