Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation to impose cleanliness tax on each household

Taxes will vary depending on size of houses

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation (IMC) has principally decided to impose a cleanliness tax on each household in the federal capital.

In this regard, a sub-committee has been formed which would prepare recommendations which would complete the paperwork required for imposition of tax and present a report in the next IMC meeting.

According to the sources, the federal government has directed the corporation to bear the expenses of maintaining cleanliness in the federal capital itself due to which IMC has decided to shift this burden in public’s basket.

The sub-committee will prepare recommendations within a week and present it in IMC’s next meeting and the tax would be imposed after the corporation’s approval.

The sources disclosed that few village Union Councils (UCs) are already collecting Rs300 tax per household while administrations of private housing societies are fleecing their residents for the same purpose. However, on the contrary, IMC will impose tax according to different slabs with more tax on big houses and less on smaller ones. It has been learned that the rate of Rs300 would be fixed for houses up to five marlas while Rs2,000 for houses covering the area of four kanals.

The sources said that cleanliness of the city and rural areas of the federal capital required as much as Rs2 billion per year which the corporation would now collect from citizens in the form of tax.

Metropolitan Corporation of Islamabad (MCI) in its meeting has approved adoption of CDA service regulation 1992 and financial and accounting procedure in MCI for a period of one year.

The 41st meeting of MCI was held here on Monday under the chairmanship of Mayor Islamabad Sheikh Ansar Aziz. Director Sanitation informed the meeting about the approval of imposition of sanitation service charges in federal capital. After the objection by the member of MCI, the mayor Islamabad has constituted a committee comprising opposition and treasury benches to address the charges of sanitation and also seek recommendations from House in this regard. Director Health Regulation informed the House about free services of spray and fumigation activities to private residential houses, educational institutions and private organisations till the diseases is spreading in the city. 

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2019.