Environment tax collection at Rs 1.25 cr a day in Delhi

The toll tax contractor of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has been collecting around Rs 1.25 crore of Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) every day since the 'green tax' was levied on trucks and other commercial vehicles entering Delhi as per a Supreme Court order.

"As per initial reports, contractor SMYR is collecting Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) totalling around Rs 1.25 per day. Exact details of collection are yet to be received as the contractor is working on its software for it," said an SDMC official.

Collection of ECC had been started by the contractor as per the Supreme Court order, after a delay of six days, at 124 entry points of the city on the intervening night of November 6-7.

Collection of ECC of Rs 1,300 from trucks and Rs 700 from smaller commercial vehicles was scheduled to begin from November 1 on the order of the Supreme Court.

The apex court, in its order on October 12, had directed Delhi Government and SDMC to charge ECC from trucks and other smaller commercial vehicles entering the city in a bid to check growing pollution in the national capital.

The contractor, while agreeing to the responsibility of collecting ECC, had informed the SDMC authorities that the number of commercial vehicles passing through its barriers had gown down by 30 per cent due to the fear of ECC and had asked them to act accordingly to cover the losses.

Earlier, the contractor had refused to collect the green tax citing several "practical problems" and had given a legal notice to SDMC, seeking clarification of 11 issues including fall in toll tax revenue.

As per the estimates of municipal corporation officials, around 50,000 trucks and commercial vehicles enter Delhi every day via various entry points.

-PTI