Garbage tax to be collected from July

The Punjab government will begin collecting 'garbage tax' from urban and rural areas across the province from July 1 under the 'Suthra Punjab' project.

According to sources, the local bodies have started formulating their strategies to collect the service charges to ensure the project's success. The Punjab Cabinet Standing Committee on Finance and Development has already approved the tax collection plan.

After coming into power, the provincial government had initiated the Suthra Punjab project to provide sanitation and waste management facilities with an initial budget of Rs200 billion.

The local bodies and waste management companies purchased machinery and started door-to-door garbage collection in several districts, including Lahore.

However, the facilities have not been fully provided to residents across Punjab due to delays in starting the work by local governments and waste management companies. Since the Punjab government had set a timeline for the project, with tax collection scheduled to begin from July, instructions have been issued to the local bodies and waste management companies to complete all arrangements for garbage tax recovery by July 1, for which work has begun.

The new tax will be imposed on small and large businesses, as well as residential areas, both urban and rural, across Punjab.

However, residents of all informal settlements in Lahore and other parts of the province will be exempt from the levy.

For residential rural areas, monthly garbage tax of Rs200 will be collected from houses measuring two to five marla. For houses measuring 10 marla or more, the tax would be Rs400. Small businesses of rural areas will be taxed Rs300, medium-sized businesses Rs700 and large enterprises, factories and industries Rs1,000 per month.

The rate is higher for urban areas, where a house measuring up to 5 marla would be taxed Rs300 and houses measuring five to 10 marla Rs500 per month. Houses measuring 10 marla to one kanal would be taxed Rs1,000, one to two kanal Rs2,000, and larger residences Rs5,000 per month.

In commercial areas across Punjab, a tax of Rs500 will be collected from shops. Medium-sized businesses will be charged Rs1,000, while factories, industries and large businesses will pay Rs3,000 per month.

According to Local Government Secretary Mian Shakeel Ahmad, the garbage collection services are part of the Suthra Punjab project initiated on the instructions of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Under the project, sanitation facilities have been provided to rural areas on the same lines as cities.

Door-to-door garbage collection is also under way, and service charges will be collected from residents and commercial establishments across Punjab from July 1. All relevant authorities have been issued instructions in this regard, the official said.

Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) Chief Executive Officer Sahibdin Babar said an excellent sanitation system had been launched in the division. Along with sanitation, door-to-door garbage collection is also under way, and the waste is being taken to dumping points. From July 1, the service charges will be collected from residents and commercial businesses for these facilities, he said, adding that the charges would be collected by the LWMC.