India Renews Environmental Compensation Fee under Plastic Waste Management Rules 
On April 4, 2024, India’s Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has renewed its Guidelines for Assessment of Environment Compensation to be levied for Violation of Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. The guidelines were last renewed in September 2022, and since then the Rules were amended on March 26, 2022, the guideline had been updated according to the latest rules. The update adds new requirements for collection, segregation, and transportation of plastic waste by local authorities and the obligation to submit annual reports, while no changes for the environmental compensation fees for other violations.
Instead of fines, environmental compensation is imposed for violations of the provisions of the rules. The difference between the environmental compensation and a fine is that in the case of environmental compensation, a portion collected will be refunded if the violations (failure to meet recycling targets, submit annual returns, etc.) are resolved within three years. The rules does not specify the specific amount of environmental compensation to be imposed for each violation in itself, but will be stipulated separately in these Guidelines instead.
Below are some important provisions in the rules and the environmental compensation fees that may be imposed for violations of each provisions. The following shows the case of first offense, which are generally doubled and quadrupled in case of second and subsequent offenses, respectively.
- Production of banned single-use plastics: 5000 rupees/ton produced
- Failure to submit annual returns: 5000 rupees
- Failure to register at EPR portal for producers and brand owners: 5000 rupees/ton of plastic produced
- Plastic sheet does not meet its stipulated thickness: 5000 rupees/ton of plastic sheet
- Failure to display stipulated markings and labels: 2000 rupees
The latest guidelines is available at link below:
https://cpcb.nic.in/uploads/plasticwaste/EC_Regime_PWM_04-04-2024.pdf
