The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has approved draft Solid Waste Management Bylaws 2026, proposing higher monthly user charges, mandatory waste segregation and stronger enforcement for residential, commercial and industrial establishments in Lutyens’ Delhi. The draft will come into force after notification by Delhi’s urban development department.
Under the proposed rates, residential properties on plots up to 50 square metres will pay Rs 100 a month, compared with Rs 50 under the 2018 bylaws. Properties measuring 50-200 square metres will pay Rs 200 instead of Rs 100, while plots larger than 200 square metres will be charged Rs 300, up from Rs 200. Charges for other categories of waste generators will also increase.
The draft allows users to make advance payments for five and a half or 10 months. The user fee is proposed to rise automatically by 5% every year from January 1. NDMC has also proposed recovering unpaid charges as arrears under the NDMC Act. Continued violations could attract fines and prosecution procedures.
The council approved the draft at a meeting on Monday. NDMC has been implementing some provisions of the 2026 Rules since April, according to the report. The revised framework shifts the stated focus from collection and disposal to segregation, recovery, recycling and decentralised processing.
NDMC generates around 300 tonnes of waste each day and currently processes about 300 tonnes daily against an available processing capacity of 509 tonnes per day. The civic body said it collected Rs 2.5 crore in user fees between January and August, including Rs 1.7 crore from commercial users and Rs 83.8 lakh from residential users. The fee is included in water bills for residential and commercial users.
NDMC vice-chairman Kuljeet Chahal said the council had arranged four-way segregation at source into wet, dry, sanitary and special-care waste. According to Chahal, auto-tippers used for door-to-door collection have four compartments, with a helper assigned to each vehicle to support segregation. Awareness jingles are also played during collection rounds.
The council’s compliance system combines public awareness, field monitoring and enforcement. An independent consultant has been appointed for third-party audits, while the ‘Har Din 4 Bin’ campaign is being conducted through resident welfare associations, market associations, schools and other institutions.
Three sanitation squads covering all 14 sanitation circles have been formed for surprise inspections and enforcement. Officials said NDMC recorded 433 challans for violations between January 1 and August 31, including 87 in August. The bylaws will also strengthen provisions applying to 29 bulk waste generators, whose compliance is being tracked through day-wise data.
NDMC uses its 311 platform, management information systems and Integrated Command & Control Centre to monitor collection and transportation. Photographic evidence and field inspections are also used to check whether segregated waste remains separate after collection. Under the proposed norms, the Central Pollution Control Board’s centralised portal will be used for registration, returns and GPS tracking of collection vehicles.
The immediate next step is notification of the draft bylaws by the Delhi government’s urban development department. Until that process is completed, the proposed charges and enforcement provisions remain part of the draft framework.
