Garbage contractors, who were on a flash strike since Monday hampering door-to-door collection in most parts of the city, resumed garbage collection by Tuesday afternoon, following an assurance by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) of sorting out the service tax issues.
Service Tax department in the state recently served demand notices to contractors for around ₹200 crore for contracts executed during 2014-2017. The BBMP, however, argues that the contracts are exempt from service tax. Despite assurances by BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad to look into the issue, the contractors refused to resume garbage collection on Tuesday till the civic body gave an explicit assurance that it would pay the tax arrears if the contracts are not exempt.
Sources said that a delegation of garbage contractors met Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George on Tuesday, following which Mr. Prasad held another round of meeting with the contractors, along with all the zonal joint commissioners. Balasubramanyam, a garbage contractor, said that the BBMP had now assured them that the civic body would bear the tax arrears if the service tax department has its way. “We have begun collection of garbage by noon,” he said.
