New garbage tax sparks outrage
A hefty garbage tax is being imposed across all cities and villages in Punjab from tomorrow (July 1), drawing ire of citizens and social organisations.
This tax will be collected monthly with forceful implementation by Waste Management Companies, Municipal Corporations, Municipal Committees, Town Committees, and District Councils. Official bills will be issued, and non-payment may lead to police action upon report.
The Punjab government has also issued a detailed fee structure for urban and rural areas, sparking public outrage. Even daily wage labourers living in rented accommodations will be required to pay the garbage tax.
Monthly garbage tax rates for rural areas will be Rs200 for two to five marla houses, Rs400 for 10 marla and above, Rs300 for small shopkeepers, Rs700 for medium businesses, and Rs1,000 for large businesses/factories/industries.
For urban areas, Rs300 will be charged per month for up to 5 marla houses, Rs500 for five to 10 marla houses, Rs1,000 for 10 marla to one kanal houses, Rs2,000 for one to two kanal houses, and Rs5,000 for over two kanal houses.
Under commercial areas, authorities will charge Rs500 for a single shop, Rs1,000 for medium businesses, and Rs3,000 for factories/industries.
Social organisations and citizens have strongly condemned the garbage tax, demanding that the government curb its lavish spending instead of burdening the public with endless taxation.
Citizen Action Committee Chairman, Malik Zaheer Awan, has criticised the extravagance of the Punjab Chief Minister's office, stating it consumed biscuits worth Rs2.14 billion in a year, excluding food bills. He demanded that this money be redirected toward cleanliness in Punjab.
He further suggested that the alleged Rs10 trillion lost to corruption in Punjab in a year be recovered and used to resolve issues related to cleanliness, drinking water, and sewage.
Malik Saleh Advocate, a senior member of the Rawalpindi District Bar Association, announced he is obtaining a copy of the notification and will challenge the Garbage Tax in the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Meanwhile, MNA Engineer Qamarul Islam, convener of the District Development Committee, supported the tax, stating it would upgrade Punjab's sanitation system and help transform the province into the "Paris of South Asia" in terms of cleanliness.
The development comes just days after the National Assembly approved the Rs17.6 trillion worth budget along with Rs463 billion new taxes, bringing the digital economy under the purview of tax laws but almost nullified the single largest enforcement measure to ban economic transactions by ineligible persons.
The National Assembly approved the second budget of the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif with a comfortable majority. During a voting on one clause, the coalition government mustered the support of 201 Members of the National Assembly as against 57 votes of the opposition parties.