The draft of Solid Waste Management (SWM) Bye-Laws 2026 prepared by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) proposes a monthly garbage user charges of up to ₹ 300 for residential dwelling units depending on the property type and area, steeper charges for commercial units, annual returns by bulk waste generators and mandated prior permission for holding large gatherings.
Draft bye-laws state that hostels will pay a monthly fee of ₹ 3,000; restaurants (more than 50 seats) ₹ 5,000; clinics and dispensaries (up to 50 beds) ₹ 3,000; and auditoriums and community spaces ₹ 7,500. The user fee will increase by 5% annually from January 1 each year, and a 10% late payment surcharge will be imposed after a 30-day delay. Because of gaps in municipal services, meanwhile, Atul Goel, who heads URJA, an umbrella body of RWAs, said the proposal needs to account for the parallel waste-collection network that has emerged.
“The draft bye-laws mandate that the user fee will be paid for garbage collection and transportation services. Garbage user charges are municipal fees levied on residents and businesses for collecting, transporting, and disposing of solid waste, and they have met stiff resistance in the past. “The economic profiles of residents vary significantly depending on the category of their colony—whether in east, south, or north Delhi. Consequently, implementation proved difficult, and the public did not receive the charges well. In light of this, we have formulated revised sub-rules more rationally. Under this framework, charges for residential properties are determined based on the category of the colony, ensuring that the financial burden on residents remains manageable and that the policy is more readily accepted upon implementation,” the official added. “People pay their local garbage collectors. Why should they pay MCD for its failure?
The proposal divides colonies into two groups,” the official said. A senior MCD official said that the user charges were previously set uniformly across the three former municipal corporations . The solid waste management rules had also mandated that the municipalities would integrate informal sector workers in the system,” he said.
A senior municipal official said on Sunday that councillors will take up the draft bye-laws at the next MCD House meeting before finalising them.
