Tbilisi municipality has decided to halve for next five months household fee for waste collection services, tariff of which is tied to electricity bills.

Tbilisi City Council (Sakrebulo) approved on October 26 the mayor’s office proposal, according to which for waste collection in November-March households will pay 2.5 Tetri, instead of current five, for each kilowatt of electricity consumed per month.

The Tbilisi municipality tied waste collection fee to electricity bill in July, 2011; increasing collection of fee was one of the reasons behind the decision. Before that there was a flat fee – GEL 2.5 per family member in each month.

Attaching waste fees with electricity bill was highly controversial from the very beginning and public opinion surveys showed that it was one of the most unpopular moves.

Decision to halve the fee seems to be a temporary solution as discussions will continue about new waste fee scheme that will not be tied to electricity bill.