City Hall has put off a plan to raise the refuse collection rates, the first hike in 15 years, until October next year citing the government's policy to ease financial burdens associated with the economic impact of the new coronavirus pandemic.
Bangkok City Council has endorsed a draft ordinance acknowledging the postponement of the new fee by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) which had been due to go into effect on Oct 1 this year.
The motion was submitted by Pol Lt Gen Sopon Pisuttiwong, a deputy Bangkok governor, after the council had endorsed it.
It now awaits one last process by the BMA before it takes legal effect.
Last year the council approved in principle a hike which was four times higher than the present rates.
The fee for households was set to increase from 20 baht to 80 baht monthly and generate 1.5 billion baht a year.
At the council meeting to debate deferring the fee, some councillors voiced their opposition to raising the amount at all.
Chayawut Siriyutwatthana, a Bangkok councillor at that time, said he could not agree with any rise in the payment.
The BMA should consider waiving the collection fee for households producing no more than 500 cubic metres of refuse per month and focus on collecting more money from businesses producing large amounts of waste, he said.
However, according to the BMA, the fee of 20 baht per household has not changed since 2005 and does not reflect actual costs, which have since gone up to 228 baht per household per month.