Guidelines for levy of fees for use of Centralized online portal for registration and filing of annual return by Obligated entities under SWM Rules, 2026

Guidelines for levy of fees for use of the Centralized online portal for registration and filing of annual returns by obligated entities under Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026 CENTRAL POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD Parivesh Bhawan, East Arjun Nagar, Shahdara, Delhi-110032 September, 2026Table of Contents S.No. Content Page No.

1.0 Background 1

2.0 Applicability 1

3.0 Relevant definitions under SWM Rules, 2026 2

4.0 Objective 3

5.0 Obligated entities for registration and annual return filing 4 prescribed under SWM Rules, 2026

6.0 Fees for the use of portal for registration and filing of annual 4 returns by the Obligated Entities

6.1 Bulk Waste Generators (BWGs) 4

6.1.1 Registration fee for Bulk Waste Generators 5

6.1.2 Annual processing fee for Bulk Waste Generators 5

6.2 Solid waste processing facilities and Industrial units (utilizing 6 solid fuel as Refuse-Derived Fuel or Segregated Combustible Fraction or agri-residue, as the case may be) and Waste-to-Energy plants located within specified distance from RDF plant

6.2.1 Registration fee 6

6.2.2 Annual processing fee (as applicable) 7

6.3 Operator of Sanitary Landfill 7

6.3.1 Registration fee for Sanitary Landfill 8

6.3.2 Annual processing fee for Sanitary Landfill 8

7.0 General Provisions relating to Registration, Fee Payment 8 and Compliance List of Tables Table 1 Registration fee structure for Bulk Waste Generators 5

(BWGs) Table 2 Registration fee for Solid waste processing facilities and 7 Industrial units utilizing RDF or SCF or agri residues & Waste to Energy plants located within specified distance from RDF plant Table 3 Registration fee structure for Sanitary Landfills 81.0 Background The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India, notified the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules, 2026 on 27.01.2026 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, superseding the SWM Rules, 2016.

The Rules came into force with effect from 01.04.2026. The Rules provide a comprehensive regulatory framework for management of solid waste and prescribe responsibilities of Central Government, State Governments, Urban Local Bodies, Rural Local Bodies, Bulk Waste Generators (BWGs) and other entities involved in the generation, collection, transportation, processing, recycling and disposal of solid waste.

Further, the SWM Rules, 2026 have strengthened the mechanism for implementation and monitoring of solid waste management through a Centralised Online Portal to be established and operated by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The Portal is intended to provide a common digital platform for registration of obligated entities and other entities covered under the Rules, filing of annual returns, reporting of solid waste management activities and monitoring of compliance.

In accordance with Rule 16(1) of the SWM Rules, 2026, the CPCB is required to establish and operate the online system for registration and filing of annual returns of all obligated entities under the Rules.

As per rule 16(8) of the SWM Rules,2026, the CPCB may charge fees from the obligated entities for the use of the portal as per the guidelines prepared by Central Pollution Control Board except for local bodies, State Government and Central Government.

The Rule 41(1)(xv) further specifies that the State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) and Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) may charge registration fee for processing of applications for registration as well as an annual fee for processing of returns filed under the rules, a part of the fees charged will be shared with CPCB for operation and maintenance on centralised online portal.

The fee mechanism to be prescribed by CPCB is therefore required to be applicable only to the obligated entities covered under the Rules and shall not extend to the entities specifically exempted under Rule.

There is, a need to establish a uniform framework for implementation of the aforesaid provisions, including determination and levy of fees payable by the entities covered under the Rules. Accordingly, the CPCB has prepared these Guidelines for levy of registration fee and annual fee to be filed by the obligated entities under the SWM Rules, 2026.

2.0 Applicability These Guidelines shall be applicable to all obligated entities covered under the SWM Rules, 2026, which are required to obtain registration and file annual returns through the Centralised Online Portal. The portal use fee levied by CPCB shall not be applicable to local bodies, State Government and Central Government, as provided under the Rules.

13.0 Relevant definitions under SWM Rules, 2026 The relevant definitions prescribed under SWM Rules ,2026 is given below:

A) Bulk Waste Generators:

Covers the entities, given below, if they satisfy at least one of the following criterion;

(i) buildings with floor area of 20,000 sq.m. or above; or

(ii) water consumption of 40000 litres per day; or

(iii) solid waste generation of 100 kg per day, namely: -

(a) Institutional users including buildings occupied by the, -

(i) Central Government departments or undertakings, State government departments or undertakings;

(ii) local bodies;

(iii) public sector undertakings or private companies;

(iv) schools, colleges, universities, other educational institutions; and

(v) community places or like;

(b) Commercial users including, -

(i) commercial establishments including railways, bus stations or depots, airports, ports;

(ii) industrial units and industrial areas;

(iii) malls, multiplexes;

(iv) hotels;

(v) hospitals, nursing homes;

(vi) hostels;

(vii) wholesale markets, including “Mandis”, for agricultural and horticultural produce, fish and meat;

(viii) Stadium, sports complexes;

(ix) Community halls, convention halls, auditorium;

(x) Marriage or banquet halls;

(xi) conference centres, Expo centres, exhibition areas; and

(xii) tourist spots.

(c) Residential societies.

B) Facility: means any establishment wherein the solid waste management processes namely segregation, recovery, storage, collection, recycling, processing, treatment or safe disposal are carried out.

C) Material recovery facility: means a facility where solid waste other than wet waste and horticulture waste, can be temporarily stored by the local body or any entity authorised by local body to facilitate segregation and sorting of collected waste including biodegradable plastic as well as compostable plastic, and transfer of recyclables and non-recyclables to authorised recyclers or waste processors from various components of waste 2D) Operator of a facility: means a person or entity, who owns or operates a facility for handling solid waste which includes the local body and any other entity or agency appointed by the local body.

E) Refused derived fuel (RDF): means fuel derived from combustible waste fraction of solid waste like plastic, wood, pulp or inorganic waste, other than chlorinated materials, in the form of pellets or fluff produced by drying, shredding, dehydrating and compacting of solid waste.

F) Sanitary land filling: means the final and safe disposal of residual solid waste and inert waste on land in a facility designed with protective measures against pollution of ground water, surface water and fugitive air dust, wind-blown litter, bad odour, fire hazard, animal menace, bird menace, pests or rodents, greenhouse gas emissions, persistent organic pollutants slope instability and erosion.

G) State Pollution Control Board/Pollution Control Committee: means the State Pollution Control Board constituted under Section 4 of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (6 of 1974) and includes in relation to Union territory, the Pollution Control Committee.

H) Waste to energy: means and includes use of solid waste for generation of energy and includes coprocessing through use of high calorific value non-biodegradable and non-recyclable fractions of solid waste for generation of heat through incineration (thermal process) for generation of electricity or use of biodegradable fraction of solid waste for anaerobic digestion (biomethanation) for generation of biogas (methane) including compressed biogas, Bio Compressed Natural Gas for use either directly or converted to electricity using appropriate generators.

4.0 Objective The objective of levying fees from obligated entities for registration and filing of returns on the centralized online portal under the SWM Rules, 2026 is to enable the CPCB to effectively discharge its statutory responsibilities under the said Rules. The fees shall

support the following activities: i. Development, operation, maintenance and upgradation of the centralized online portal, including ensuring its continuous functionality, accessibility and data security ii. Registration and onboarding of obligated entities such as Bulk Waste Generators, operators of solid waste processing facilities including Material Recovery Facilities

(MRF), Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) plants, MRF cum RDF plants, Co-Processing facilities, integrated SWM facilities, Biogas/Compressed Biogas plants, Composting units, Waste to Energy (WtE) units & incinerators, Common biomedical waste facilities and sanitary landfill operators on the portal.

3iii. Facilitating submission, management and processing of data, quarterly returns and annual returns by obligated entities through the portal iv. Facilitating submission of online annual reports on implementation of the SWM Rules, 2026, by operators of waste treatment/processing facilities in Form III to the concerned local body and the SPCB/PCC by 30th June every year v. Monitoring compliance with the provisions of the SWM Rules, 2026, including obligations related to Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility (EBWGR) and solid waste processing and management vi. Supporting compliance monitoring, reporting, and review by CPCB and other authorities through digital systems and automated data management tools vii. Maintaining national-level databases, reporting dashboards, analytics and public information systems for transparent and effective implementation of the SWM Rules, 2026.

5.0 Obligated entities for registration and annual return filing prescribed under SWM Rules, 2026 The following entities shall be covered under the fee mechanism prescribed in these

Guidelines:

(a) Bulk Waste generators (BWGs) (Rule 6(1)(a))

(b) Operator of solid waste processing facilities (Rule 7(a))

(c) Entity involved in sorting of recyclable or non-recyclable waste at Material Recovery Facility (MRF) (Rule 9(1))

(d) Industrial units and Waste to Energy plants located within specified distance from refuse- derived fuel (RDF) plants based on solid waste (Rule 11(2))

(e) Refuse-Derived Fuel plants and Material Recovery Facility cum Refuse-Derived Fuel plants (Rule 11(3))

(f) Operator of Sanitary Landfill (Rule 14(8))

6.0 Fees for the use of portal for registration and filing of annual returns by the Obligated Entities

6.1 Bulk waste Generators(BWGs):

As per Rule 6 (1) (a & h) of the SWM Rules, 2026, every bulk waste generator shall  Register themselves with the concerned local body through the centralized online portal. The certificate of registration shall specify conditions required to be fulfilled for registration to remain valid. Any change in the information

provided during registration and the conditions specified in the registration shall be notified to the local body.  Submit annual returns by 30th June every year on the centralised online portal in respect of the extended bulk waste generator responsibility obligation including procurement of extended bulk waste generator responsibility certificate for total calculated solid waste generated by them and the annual returns shall be submitted to local bodies for further processing and same shall 4be made available in public domain on the website of local body on a yearly basis.

Accordingly, the applicable registration fee and annual processing fee for the bulk

waste generators are prescribed in the subsequent sections:

6.1.1 Registration Fee for BWGs:

As per provisions of the SWM Rules, 2026 the BWGs are classified into three categories, namely Residential Societies, Institutional Users and Commercial Users. Accordingly, a one-time registration fee shall be levied on BWGs at the time of registration under the respective category. The registration fee applicable to each category of BWG, i.e., Residential, Institutional and Commercial, shall be as prescribed as given in Table 1.

Table 1: Registration fee structure for Bulk Waste Generators (BWGs) S.No. Solid Waste Residential Institutional Commercial Generation (Rs.) (Rs.) (Rs.) (kg/day) 1 <500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2 500–2,000 2,500 3,750 5,000 3 Above 2,000 5,000 7,500 10,000

6.1.2 Annual Processing Fee for BWGs: i. 25% of registration fee is to be paid as Annual Processing Fee at the time of filing annual returns on every year. ii. The Registration and Annual return fees to be shared between CPCB and concerned SPCB/PCC in the ratio of 50:50. The fees shall be paid online through the payment gateway integrated on the portal, the fees will be shared on real time basis to the respective SPCB /PCC.

iii. In case of enhancement in waste generation, the BWG shall apply for revised registration on the Centralized Online Portal and shall be required to pay the applicable fee only for the enhanced capacity, irrespective of the initially registered capacity and fee slab. However, where the enhancement in the capacity falls within the respective slabs, there is no additional fee to be paid.

iv. BWGs may be permitted to make amendments in specific fields of the data submitted on the portal, such as contact details, address, authorized representative or other relevant information, as per the provisions specified in the guidelines prepared by CPCB. Such amendments shall be allowed only prior to submission of the annual return for a particular year and shall be subject to payment of an amendment fee of Rs.250 per amendment type, wherever applicable.

56.2 Solid waste processing facilities and Industrial units (utilizing solid fuel as RDF or Segregated Combustible Fraction (SCF) or agri-residue, as the case may be) and WtE plants located within specified distance from RDF plant:

The SWM Rules, 2026, specify the responsibilities and requirements applicable to solid waste processing facilities, including the industrial units utilising Refuse- Derived Fuel (RDF), or agricultural residues as fuel or feedstock. These provisions are intended to ensure that such facilities comply with the applicable registration, reporting, operational and environmental requirements prescribed under the Rules. The relevant provisions of the SWM Rules, 2026 applicable to such facilities and industrial units are reproduced below for the purpose of prescribing the applicable registration and annual return fees under these Guidelines.

As per Rule 7 (1) (a & c), the operator of every waste processing facility shall:  register with the local body through the centralized online portal in case of wet waste, dry waste, sanitary waste, special care waste, horticulture waste processing facilities including Waste to energy, Compressed Bio-Gas plant, composting, incinerators, common biomedical waste facilities.

 file annual returns by 30th of June every year to the concerned local body in form III, and the local body shall validate the returns filed before further onward processing.

As per the Rule 9(1), each entity involved in sorting of waste, into recyclable or non-recyclable waste, preferably from dry waste shall be registered with the local body.

As per the rule 11 (2 & 3), the following provisions for compliance are as follows  All such industrial units shall register with the concerned State Pollution Control Board and shall file annual returns on use of Refuse-Derived Fuel (RDF) or Segregated Combustible Fraction (SCF) or agri residue through centralized online portal by 30th June every year.

 All Refuse-Derived Fuel plants and Material Recovery Facility cum Refuse- Derived Fuel plants shall register and report availability of Refuse-Derived Fuel along with quality report of the available Refuse-Derived Fuel or Segregated Combustible Fraction Accordingly, the registration fee and annual processing fee (as applicable) for Solid waste processing facilities and Industrial Units utilizing RDF or SCF or Agri Residues are prescribed in the subsequent section.

6.2.1 Registration Fee:

The applicable registration fee for the solid waste processing facilities including Composting, MRF, MRF cum RDF & common biomedical waste facilities and Industrial units (utilizing solid fuel as Refuse-Derived Fuel or Segregated 6Combustible Fraction or agri-residue, as the case may be) and Waste to Energy plants located within specified distance from RDF plant are prescribed in Table 2.

Table 2: Registration fee for Solid waste processing facilities and Industrial units utilizing RDF or SCF or agri residues & Waste to Energy plants located within specified distance from RDF plant S. No. Installed Processing Capacity Proposed Registration Fee

(TPD) (Rs.) 1 <5 1,500 2 5-50 2,500 3 51-200 5,000 4 > 200 7,500

6.2.2 Annual Processing Fee (as applicable) i. 25% of registration fees is to be paid as Annual Processing Fees (as applicable) at the time of filing annual returns on every year. ii. The Registration fee and Annual processing fee to be shared between CPCB and concerned SPCB/PCC in the ratio of 50:50. The fees shall be paid online through the payment gateway integrated on the portal, the fees will be shared on real time basis to the respective SPCB /PCC.

iii. In case of enhancement in the processing capacity of a Solid Waste Processing Facility and Industrial units utilizing RDF or SCF or agri residues & Waste to Energy plants located within specified distance from RDF plant, the facility operator shall apply for revised registration on the Centralized Online Portal and shall be required to pay the applicable fee only for the enhanced capacity, irrespective of the initially registered capacity and the applicable fee slab.

However, where the enhancement in the capacity falls within the respective slabs, there is no additional fee to be paid. iv. The Facilities registered on the Portal may be permitted to make amendments in specific fields of the data submitted, such as changes in contact details, address, authorized representative, or operational data. Such amendments shall be allowed only prior to submission of the annual returns (as applicable) for particular financial year and shall be subject to submission of valid justification.

₹ 500 per amendment type shall be payable for making such modifications on the portal.

6.3 Operator of Sanitary Landfill As per Rule 14 (8) of the SWM Rules, 2026, the operator of Sanitary Landfill shall register under these rules on the centralized portal and shall file annual returns in prescribed proforma regarding quantum of waste deposited on centralized online portal by 30th June every year.

Accordingly, the applicable registration fee and annual processing fee for the Sanitary Landfills (SLF) are prescribed in subsequent sections.

76.3.1 Registration fee for SLF The applicable registration fees for operator of SLF is given in Table 3.

Table 3: Registration fee structure for Sanitary Landfills S. No. Capacity of SLF (TPD) Proposed Registration Fee (Rs.) 1 <100 2,000 2 100-500 3,500 3 501-1500 5,000 4 > 1500 7,000

6.3.2 Annual Processing Fee for SLF i. 25% of registration fees is to be paid as Annual Processing Fees at the time of filing annual returns on every year. ii. The Registration fee and Annual processing fee to be shared between CPCB and concerned SPCB/PCC in the ratio of 50:50. The fees shall be paid online through the payment gateway integrated on the portal, the fees will be shared on real time basis to the respective SPCB /PCC.

iii. In case of enhancement in the capacity of SLF, the SLF operator shall apply for revised registration on the Centralized Online Portal and shall be required to pay the applicable fee only for the enhanced capacity, irrespective of the initially registered capacity and the applicable fee slab. However, where the enhancement in the capacity falls within the respective slabs, there is no additional fee to be paid.

iv. The facilities registered on the Portal may be permitted to make amendments in specific fields of the data submitted, such as changes in contact details, address, authorized representative, or operational data. Such amendments shall be allowed only prior to submission of the annual returns for particular financial year and shall be subject to submission of valid justification. ₹ 500 per amendment type shall be payable for making such modifications on the portal.

7.0 General Provisions relating to Registration, Fee Payment and Compliance i. All eligible entities covered under the SWM Rules, 2026 shall mandatorily register on the Centralized Online Portal. ii. The registration fee, once paid, shall be non-refundable, except in cases of duplicate payment or excess payment, subject to verification and approval by CPCB.

iii. The entity shall furnish complete, accurate and updated information and documents as required for registration and shall be responsible for the correctness and authenticity of the information submitted on the Portal iv. The registered entities (as applicable) shall file their annual returns through the Centralised Online Portal within the time period prescribed under the SWM Rules,

2026.

8v. The registration fee and annual fee, as applicable, shall be paid electronically through the Centralised Online Portal in accordance with the fee structure prescribed under these Guidelines. vi. The registration shall be subject to verification and approval by the concerned regulatory authority, wherever applicable, and the registered entity shall comply with all the conditions and obligations prescribed under the SWM Rules, 2026.

vii. Failure to obtain registration, non-payment of applicable fees, non-filing or delayed filing of annual returns, submission of false or incorrect information, or failure to comply with the applicable provisions of the Rules may attract appropriate action in accordance with the SWM Rules, 2026.

viii. The prescribed fee structure may be reviewed periodically, once every three years, by CPCB. ***** 9