India News
In Karnataka, the Congress government is imposing taxes on various services and goods, much to the frustration of the public. The state government has been introducing new taxes almost every day, with no exception even for waste collection. After coming into power, the government has raised charges on various services such as RTC, metro, vehicle registration, milk, curd, electricity, water, stamp duty, excise duty, outpatient fees, post-mortem examination charges, and medical certificate fees. Now, the government has imposed a tax on waste collection as well.
From April 1, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will collect user charges for waste management. The charges will depend on the size of the residential property. For properties with an area of up to 600 square feet, a user charge of Rs 10 per month (Rs 120 per year) will be collected. For properties of 4,000 square feet or more, the charge will be Rs 400 per month (Rs 4,800 per year). Commercial buildings will be charged Rs 12 per kilogram of waste collected.
The Congress government, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has been heavily criticized for these price hikes. Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy has called the government's actions "a bloodsucker" of the public, comparing it to the exploitation of the British East India Company during colonial times. He claims that the government is increasing prices across the board and exploiting the public under the guise of fulfilling five guarantees.
In addition, the government has raised the price of diesel by Rs 2 per liter, bringing the total sales tax on diesel to 21.17%, up from 18.4%. This has pushed the diesel price in Karnataka to Rs 91.02 per liter, causing concern among farmers, transport operators, and drivers, as they anticipate the price hikes will lead to higher costs in other sectors as well. The government had also raised the price of milk by Rs 4 per liter recently, which attracted significant criticism
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