Chandigarh MC to table electricity tax hike proposal again

Months after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led municipal corporation (MC) withdrew the proposal to increase electricity tax, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led civic body under mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla is set to reintroduce the proposal in House meeting on Tuesday. If approved, this will increase the cost of electricity for city residents. To address the ongoing financial crisis, the MC has proposed an increase in the electricity tax from the current 10 paise per unit to 16 paise per unit, bringing it in line with Punjab’s rates.

As per the agenda prepared by MC officials, the municipal cess on electricity consumption, which has been in place since 2019, currently generates approximately ₹15-16 crore annually. The increase would raise this revenue to ₹22-23 crore per year.

The proposal was approved by the municipal commissioner and signed off by mayor Babla on Monday before being circulated among councillors.

The municipal tax in neighboring Punjab is charged at 2% on electricity consumption, which translates to 16 paise per unit, while in Haryana, it is 8 paise per unit. Officials justified the hike by stating that the MC must explore additional revenue sources to sustain civic services. However, the move is expected to meet resistance from opposition parties. The AAP and Congress had previously opposed the tax hike, pledging in their Lok Sabha election manifesto to provide free power and water while opposing new taxes.

MC proposes hike in booking charges for community centres

In another move to increase revenue, the MC will table a revised policy on the operations and maintenance of community centres. This includes a substantial hike in booking charges. For category A centres with ultra-modern facilities, the new rates have been proposed at ₹60,000 per day, up from the existing ₹23,000-44,000.

For category B centres, the proposed hike is to ₹40,000 per day from the earlier ₹12,000-22,000.

For category C, different rates have been set according to village or colony specifications.

Additionally, the MC has proposed a 50% concession for bookings related to marriages of Below Poverty Line (BPL) girls and for kirya/bhog ceremonies in case of death. Earlier, these bookings were free of cost.

To further boost revenue, the MC is considering handing over community centres in sectors 37, 38 West, 40, 49, and 50 to private firms for operation and maintenance under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

In a bid to reduce operational costs, the financially strained MC has proposed handing over four civil dispensaries to the UT administration’s health department to cut manpower and electricity expenses.

The MC also plans to re-hire 11 terminated sanitary inspectors at an expenditure of ₹25 lakh for six months. Additionally, an agenda will be tabled to extend the contracts for door-to-door garbage collection and GIS-based mechanised and manual sweeping in the city’s southern sectors.