Panaji: The Goa Deposit Refund Scheme Administrative Committee expects that during the initial phases of the rollout of the Deposit Refund Scheme (DRS), a substantial portion of deposits collected from customers may remain unclaimed.These unredeemed funds, committee chairman Anthony D’Sa said, will be shared equally among civic bodies, panchayats and the agency implementing the DRS system.
“Govt decided that up to 30% of unredeemed deposits can be reimbursed to the system operator as handling fees, provided the operator is able to show expenditure for actually collecting these items. Another 30% will be given to municipalities and panchayats to strengthen their own waste management systems,” D’Sa said. The remaining amount will be used for consumer education, advertising and administrative requirements of the scheme.Explaining the rationale for the three-way distribution, D’Sa said the scheme requires continuous govt oversight and sustained public outreach. “The scheme has to be run by the govt, and that will incur expenses. Then there is Information, Education and Communication (IEC), which involves constant advertising, public awareness and consumer education. That money has to come from somewhere,” he said.He added that non-biodegradable waste not returned through the nearly 360 designated collection points would ultimately be handled by civic authorities through the existing waste collection system. “If it is unredeemed, it does not mean it has disappeared. Someone, somewhere has dealt with it. It was thrown into some bin, so a municipality or panchayat handled it and needs to be reimbursed,” D’Sa said.The 30% allocation to the system operator will be released only after proof of actual expenditure on collecting items outside formal return channels. The fund-sharing mechanism, D’Sa said, is aimed at ensuring the financial sustainability of the scheme while also strengthening local waste management infrastructure across the state.D’Sa expressed hope that consumer awareness and participation would improve steadily as the scheme matures statewide.
