Punjab Starts Billing 50 Lakh Properties for Sanitation Tax
Punjab Starts Billing 50 Lakh Properties for Sanitation Tax
Punjab sanitation billing has begun. The province’s Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department has started billing about 50 lakh urban properties for sanitation fees, moving the government’s long-delayed garbage tax into enforcement under the Suthra Punjab programme.
Bill delivery in urban areas begins on October 2. Property owners will receive six-month bills covering the one-year sanitation fee and must pay within 60 days of receiving them. Payments made after the deadline will be accepted with a penalty.
What property owners will pay
Monthly charges rise with property size. For urban residential properties:
- Up to 5 marla: Rs300
- 5 to 10 marla: Rs500
- 10 to 20 marla: Rs1,000
- 20 to 40 marla: Rs2,000
- Above 40 marla: Rs5,000
Commercial units will pay Rs500 a month for small businesses, Rs1,000 for medium-sized ones and Rs3,000 for large enterprises.
Excise officials say data integration between the Suthra Punjab Authority and the department is complete. Bills will be printed from urban-unit records and delivered to each region, where inspectors in the respective circles will hand them to property owners.
Why Punjab sanitation billing is starting now
The Punjab government expects the fee to bring in around Rs40 billion a year from urban properties, a sum the programme badly needs. Recovery so far has been poor: in Lahore alone, about 5.19 million bills worth roughly Rs13 billion were issued between January and August 2026, but only 275,000 were paid, recovering just Rs360 million.
Under a service-level agreement signed on September 23, the Excise Department will collect the sanitation fee alongside property tax during the 2026-27 financial year. Director General Suthra Punjab Umer Javed and DG Excise and Taxation Umar Sher Chattha signed the agreement. The department will also run door-to-door surveys, keep consumer records, handle complaints and reconcile accounts, earning a one per cent service charge on collections.
Areas under cantonments, Defence Housing Authorities and private housing schemes are excluded, since they run their own waste-management systems.
Enforcement to follow
The province is also preparing a dedicated enforcement force, modelled on the Elite Force, to recover unpaid cleanliness charges. The plan creates 305 posts, including 300 grade-5 excise constables who will distribute bills, follow up with defaulters and recover dues from about 4.7 million properties across all 41 districts. The field staff are to get 300 electric motorcycles and five vehicles for monitoring, at an estimated cost of Rs11.3 crore.
The bigger picture
Suthra Punjab, launched in December 2024 as Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz’s flagship sanitation project, promised a province-wide overhaul of waste collection. The fee has been part of the plan from the start, but collection has lagged far behind spending on machinery, workers and fuel. With bills now going out to 50 lakh properties and an enforcement force on the way, the government is signalling that the free ride is over.
FAQs
How much is the Punjab sanitation fee?
For urban homes it ranges from Rs300 a month for properties up to 5 marla to Rs5,000 for houses above 40 marla. Commercial units pay between Rs500 and Rs3,000 a month.
When is the sanitation bill due?
Property owners will get six-month bills for the one-year fee and must pay within 60 days of receiving the bill. Late payments will carry a penalty.
Which areas are excluded from the fee?
Cantonments, Defence Housing Authorities and private housing schemes are excluded because they have their own waste-management systems.
Who collects the sanitation fee in Punjab?
The Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Control Department, under an agreement with the Suthra Punjab Authority. It will also collect the fee along with property tax and earn a one per cent service charge.
