Guidelines for imposition of Environmental Compensation (EC) under Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) had notified Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022 (BWM Rules) in supersession of Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001 on August 22, 2022. As per Rule 13(3) of BWM Rules, 2022, (The CPCB shall prepare and recommend guidelines for imposition and collection of Environmental Compensation from producers and entities involved in refurbishment and recycling of waste battery, in case of non-compliance of these Rules. The CPCB may consult the Committee for implementation constituted under Rule 15. The recommended guidelines shall be submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for concurrence.)

Accordingly, MoEF&CC vide letter dated September 9, 2024 has provided concurrence on implementation of Environmental Compensation (EC) Guidelines.

Applicability:

These Guidelines will be applicable to:

Producers – ‘Producer’ means an entity who engages in: (i) manufacture and sale of Battery including refurbished Battery, including in equipment, under its own brand; or (ii) sale of Battery including refurbished Battery, including in equipment, under its own brand produced by other manufacturers or suppliers; or (iii) import of Battery as well as equipment containing Battery;
Recyclers – ‘Recycler’ means entity engaged in recycling of Waste Battery.
Refurbishers – ‘Refurbisher’ means entity engaged in refurbishment.
Entity involved in collection, segregation and treatment of Waste Battery

Provisions of Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022, for which EC is to be levied:

Sr. No.	Rule	Provision
1	4 (11)	Producer shall file annual returns in Form 3 regarding the Waste Battery collected and recycled or refurbished towards fulfilling obligations under Extended Producer Responsibility with the Central Pollution Control Board and concerned State Pollution Control Board in Form 3 by 30th June of the next financial year. The details of the registered recyclers from whom the Extended Producer Responsibility certificates have been procured shall also be provided.
2	Rule 4 (12)	It shall be the responsibility of a Producer to, – (i) adhere to prohibitions and labelling requirements as prescribed in Schedule I;
3	4 (15)	Producer shall not deal with any other entity not having registration mandated under these rules
4	8 (3)	Refurbishers shall furnish quarterly returns in Form 4 regarding the information on quantity of used Battery collected or received from various producers or entities, refurbished quantities, quantity of hazardous and/or other waste including solid waste or plastic waste generated after refurbishment and disposal of such quantity as per extant rules and the quarterly return shall be filed by the end of the month succeeding the end of the quarter.
5	8 (5)	Refurbisher shall not deal with any other entity not having registration mandated under these rules
6	9 (3)	Recyclers shall furnish the quarterly returns in Form 4 regarding the information on quantity of Waste Battery collected or received from various producers or entity, recycled quantities, compliance of material wise recovery percentage as per recovery targets provided under subrule 4 of rule 10, quantity of hazardous and/or other waste including solid waste or plastic waste generated after recycling and of such quantity as per as per extant rules and the quarterly return shall be filed by the end of the month succeeding the end of the quarter.
7	9 (5)	Recycler shall not deal with any other entity not having registration mandated under these rules.
8	11 (11) (12)	(11) Central Pollution Control Board shall carry out audit of data, including using information from Goods and Services Tax Network portal, by itself or a designated agency, of the registered entity under these rules. (12) Central Pollution Control Board shall suspend and/or cancel the registration of Producer, and/or impose Environmental Compensation in case of violation of these rules by the registered entity.
9	13 (1) (i)	Environmental Compensation shall also be levied for the following activities based on polluter pays principle, – i. entities carrying out activities without registration as mandated under these rules;
10	13 (1) (ii)	Environmental Compensation shall also be levied for the following activities based on polluter pays principle, – ii. providing false information / wilful concealment of material facts by the entities registered under these rules;
11	13 (1) (iii)	Environmental Compensation shall also be levied for the following activities based on polluter pays principle, – iii. submission of forged/manipulated documents by the entities registered under these rules;
12	13 (1) (iv)	Environmental Compensation shall also be levied for the following activities based on polluter pays principle, – iv. entities engaged in collection, segregation, and treatment in respect to not following sound handling of Waste Battery.
13	13 (4)	Environmental Compensation shall be levied by Central Pollution Control Board on Producer operating with respect to non-fulfilment of their Extended Producer Responsibility targets, responsibilities and obligations set out in Schedule II of these rules.
14	13 (5)	Environmental Compensation shall be levied by respective State Pollution Control Board on entities involved in refurbishment or recycling of Waste Battery as well as entities involved in collection, segregation and treatment, operating in their jurisdiction with respect to non-fulfilment of their responsibilities and obligations set out under these rules.

Assessment of Environmental Compensation to be levied for violation of the any other sub-rule of the BWM Rules, 2022 or any other violation other than mentioned in the table above shall be done on case-to-case basis.

Guidelines for Calculation of Environment compensation (EC)

Environmental Compensation to be levied to the Producers/Recyclers/Refurbishers is divided in to two regimes:

EC Regime 1 – In this regime, EC will be levied to the Producers for non-fulfilment of metalwise EPR Targets. – In this regime, EC is calculated separately for following two types of batteries: (a) For Lead Acid Batteries (b) For Lithium-ion and Other Batteries. For both types of batteries calculation of EC includes cost of handling, collection & transportation and cost of processing of waste battery. Detail calculation of EC is provided in the Section 5.1 of the Guidelines.
EC regime 2 – In this regime, EC will be levied to any entity for non-compliances of BWM Rules, 2022 (viz. Producers/Recyclers/Refurbishers). In this Regime, EC is calculated as follows:
1. For 1st default – EC equivalent to application fees as per SoP (middle slab) for registration of Producers/Recyclers/Refurbishers under Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022, i.e., Rs. 20,000 = Rs. 20,000/-.
2. For 2nd default – Two times of first default i.e. Rs. 20,000 x 2 = Rs. 40,000/-.
3. For 3rd default – Two times of second default i.e. Rs. 40,000 x 2 = Rs. 80,000/-.

The EC cost in this regime will increase by 10% every year

Action to be taken for non-compliance of BWM Rules:

Details of Environmental Compensation to be levied and the penal action to be taken for noncompliance of BWM Rules, along with the nature of violation and the violator (concerned person/organization), is given in the table below:

Rule	Provision	Violator	Violation	Environmental Compensation to be levied
4 (11)	Producer shall file annual returns in Form 3 regarding the Waste Battery collected and recycled or refurbished towards fulfilling obligations under Extended Producer Responsibility with the Central Pollution Control Board and concerned State Pollution Control Board in Form 3 by 30th June of the next financial year. The details of the registered recyclers from whom the Extended Producer Producer Responsibility certificates have been procured shall also be provided.	Producer	Non-submission of Annual Returns	EC regime 2
4 (12)	It shall be the responsibility of a Producer to, – (i) adhere to prohibitions and labelling requirements as prescribed in Schedule I;	Producer	Not following labelling requirements	EC regime 2
4(15)	Producer shall not deal with any other entity not having registration mandated under these rules	Producer	Engaging with entities not registered on the portal	EC regime 2
8(3) & 9(3)	Recycler/Refurbishers shall furnish quarterly returns in Form 4 regarding the information on quantity of used Battery collected or received from various producers or entities, refurbished quantities, quantity of hazardous and/or other waste including solid waste or plastic waste generated after refurbishment and disposal of such quantity as per extant rules and the quarterly return shall be filed by the end of the month succeeding the end of the quarter	Recycler / Refurbishers	Non-submission of quarterly returns	EC regime 2
8(5) & 9(5)	Refurbisher shall not deal with any other entity not having registration mandated under these rules	Recycler / Refurbisher	Engaging with entities not registered on the portal	EC regime 2
11 (11)	Central Pollution Control Board shall carry out audit of data, including using information from Goods and Services Tax Network portal, by itself or a designated agency, of the registered entity under these rules. Central Pollution Control Board shall suspend and/or cancel the registration of Producer, and/or impose Environmental Compensation in case of violation of these rules by the registered entity.	Producer, Recycler, and Refurbisher	Noncompliance found in third party audit	(i) EC regime 2 and (ii) action as per E(P) Act, 1986
13 (1)	Environmental Compensation shall also be levied for the following activities based on polluter pays principle, – i. entities carrying out activities without registration as mandated under these rules; ii. providing false information / wilful concealment of material facts by the entities registered under these rules; iii. submission of forged/manipulated documents by the entities registered under these rules; iv. Entities engaged in collection, segregation, and treatment in respect to not following sound handling of Waste Battery.	1.Producer, 2.Recycler, 3.Refurbisher 4.Entities engaged in collection, segregation	False reporting / not registered on the Portal / improper handling of battery waste	(i) EC regime 2 and (ii) Action as per provisions of section 15 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 (iii) Action (increase in EC amount, cancellation of registration, etc.,) as deemed necessary by the Competent Authority, CPCB
13(4)	Environmental Compensation shall be levied by Central Pollution Control Board on Producer operating with respect to nonfulfilment of their Extended Producer Responsibility targets, responsibilities and obligations set out in Schedule II of these rules.	Producer	Non-fulfilment of Targets	Based on EC regime 1
13(5)	Environmental Compensation shall be levied by respective State Pollution Control Board on entities involved in refurbishment or recycling of Waste Battery as well as entities involved in collection, segregation and treatment, operating in their jurisdiction with respect to non-fulfilment of their responsibilities and obligations set out under these rules	Recycler and Refurbisher	Non-fulfilment of the responsibilities laid out in the Rules	i. Based on EC regime 2 ii. Action (increase in EC amount, cancellation of registration, etc.,) as deemed necessary by the Competent Authority, CPCB iii. Penalty as per Section 15 of EPA 1986

Note:

1. Payment of Environmental Compensation shall not absolve Producer of Extended Producer Responsibility obligation set out under these rules.

(i) the unfulfilled Extended Producer Responsibility obligation for a particular year will be carried forward to the next year for a period of three years.

(ii) in case the shortfall of Extended Producer Responsibility obligation is addressed within subsequent years within three years, the Environmental Compensation levied shall be returned to the Producer as given below,

Within one year of levying of Environmental Compensation: 75 percent return;
Within two years: 60 percent return;
Within three years: 40 percent return.

2. After completion of three years after Environmental Compensation getting due, the entire Environmental Compensation amount shall be forfeited, this arrangement shall allow for collection and refurbishment or recycling of Waste Battery by the concerned entities in later years as well.

EC charges for Delay in EC deposition:

The Environmental Compensation Charges and Financial Penalty shall be deposited by the entities which violates the provisions stipulated under BWM Rules, 2022. In case, such entity does not submit the same within the stipulated time frame the amount will be increased as per details given in Table below:

Sr. No.	EC Amount Deposition Time Period	Environmental Compensation and Financial Penalty Amount
1	Within one month from the stipulated time period as directed by CPCB/SPCB/PCC.	Original amount with interest @ 12% per annum for number of days delayed after the stipulated date of amount deposition
2	After one month but within 03 months after the stipulated time period as directed by CPCB/SPCB/PCC.	Original amount with interest @ 24% per annum for number of days delayed after one month of the stipulated date of amount deposition
3	After 03 months	a.. Closure of unit/facility b. Seizure of trade documents c. Action as per Section 15 (1) of EPA

For more details, please refer to the CPCB Notice dated September 10, 2024, as reproduced herein below:

https://www.eprbatterycpcb.in/upload/adminDoc/Notice_EC%20Guidelines.pdf

Disclaimer: The information contained in this Article is intended solely for personal non-commercial use of the user who accepts full responsibility of its use. The information in the article is general in nature and should not be considered to be legal, tax, accounting, consulting or any other professional advice. We make no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied regarding the accuracy, adequacy, reliability or completeness of any information on our page/article.

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Guidelines for imposition of Environmental Compensation (EC) under Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022

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