Bengaluru: Huge clusters of apartment blocks are usually first off the ground when it comes to paying annual property tax to the city civic agency, Greater Bengaluru Authority, as soon as the payment portal opens in April. This year, the start has been underwhelming in the first fortnight — the busiest, otherwise — as the definition and calculation of bulk waste generators are shrouded in mystery. In short, there’s no clarity. Hence, no early payment of property tax.Confusion surrounds solid waste management (SWM) charges, particularly for apartment complexes generating over 100kg of waste a day. While bulk waste generators are eligible for exemption, they are required to declare status on the property tax portal — a process far from straightforward. With no guidance on the portal, many users are seeking external help to complete the process. This ambiguity has led to widespread hesitation on making tax payments. Sources in the revenue department said GBA has about 5,600 declared bulk waste-generating complexes, including commercial, which account for a not-significant percentage of the overall properties in the city. Residents and citizen groups are urging authorities to simplify the SWM section, allow flexible data entry, expand vendor options, and provide clear guidelines to ensure a smoother tax-filing process.“The key issue is that no household has been systematically measuring waste so far. Now, we are asked to declare exact daily quantities. Even management committees do not have this data. Without clarity on authorised vendors or proper guidance, residents are looking at penalties if they submit incorrect data,” Goutham Kamath, a resident of an apartment on Kanakapura Road, said.Ravindranath Shenoy, another resident from the same area, said, “Filing property tax this year is not the main issue, but the process is still confusing as we have to enter waste-related details, which we don’t have. Some residents are guessing and entering numbers. My bigger concern is that last year, we were charged solid waste management fees despite managing waste ourselves. There’s still no clarity on refunds.““The system lacks logic. It expects individual flat owners to declare waste, even though this is managed at the apartment level through maintenance. Because of unrealistic inputs, people are ending up with inflated charges of Rs 40,000 to Rs 60,000 in some cases. There is no clarity on responsibility or pricing, and it feels like the process has been rolled out without proper thought,” Satish Malya, president, Bengaluru Apartments’ Federation, told TOI.
