SWM Rules 2026 for malls: operator and tenant duties

"Malls, multiplexes" are a listed bulk waste generator category under Rule 3(1)(i) of the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026. A mall that has a floor area of 20,000 sq.m. or above, uses 40,000 litres of water a day, or generates 100 kg of waste a day must register on the centralised online portal, fulfil Extended Bulk Waste Generator Responsibility (EBWGR) and file an annual return by 30 June (Rule 6). Where the mall is a bulk waste generator, Rule 6(l) also requires, in accordance with the relevant rules, that entities engaged in the operation and management of shopping malls develop and operate facilities for collecting and processing or disposing of solid waste.

Malls are not themselves named in Rule 5(2). Restaurants and hotels operating inside a mall are.

Which levels of obligation apply in a mall?

Rule 5(2) names "All gated communities and institutions with more than 5,000 sq.m. area and all resident welfare associations, market associations, hotels, restaurants". A mall is not named as such. Whether a traders' or tenants' association in a mall is a "market association" for this purpose is not defined in the rules, and should be confirmed with the local body.

Is your mall a bulk waste generator?

A mall or multiplex is a bulk waste generator if it meets at least one of these tests (Rule 3(1)(i)):

• a building floor area of 20,000 sq.m. or above;
• water consumption of 40,000 litres a day; or
• solid waste generation of 100 kg a day.

Meeting one test is enough. For a large mall, floor area from the approved building plan may be decisive. Smaller malls and standalone multiplexes should also measure water consumption, which can include cooling, washrooms and food courts, and daily waste, weighed over several representative weeks including weekends and festival seasons. Urban local bodies survey and list bulk waste generators on the portal every year, by 1 April, and geo-tag them (Rule 39(36)). Our bulk waste generator guide sets out the tests in detail.

A mall that is a bulk waste generator must:

• register with the local body through the centralised online portal, and notify the local body of any change in the information provided (Rule 6(a));
• arrange collection and handover of dry, sanitary and special care waste to the local body or an agency it authorises (Rule 6(b));
• process its wet waste, including horticulture waste: a new bulk waste generator must set up and operate a wet waste processing facility of adequate capacity to process all of it, while an existing one that cannot set up and operate decentralised processing must obtain an exemption from the local body and procure EBWGR certificates equivalent to its complete wet waste (Rules 6(c)–(d));
• procure EBWGR certificates from the local body for its dry, sanitary and special care waste (Rules 6(e)–(f)). Only the local body is mandated to generate certificates on the centralised online portal (Rule 10(1)); see our EBWGR certificates briefing;
• not engage with any entity that lacks the registration these rules require (Rule 6(g)); and
• file an annual return on the portal by 30 June every year (Rule 6(h)); see our annual returns briefing.

The operator's facility duty

Rule 6(l) requires a bulk waste generator, "in accordance with the relevant rules", to "develop and operate facilities for collecting and processing or disposal of various category of solid waste" in the case of entities "engaged in the operation and management of public facilities including such as airports, bus stops or railway stations, shopping malls".

In practice, this suggests the operator should provide the collection and storage points, decentralised processing where feasible, and the handover arrangements that tenants rely on. Urban local bodies, for their part, must arrange door-to-door collection of segregated waste from malls, among other premises (Rule 39(4)), and transport it in compartmentalised and covered vehicles so that segregated streams are not mixed (Rule 39(46)).

Who registers and files: owner, operator or tenants

The rules place the Rule 6 duties on "every bulk waste generator", and define bulk waste generators as listed entities, including "malls, multiplexes", that meet a building floor area, water or waste test. They do not say whether the owner of a mall, its operator or facility manager, or its tenants registers and files when the premises is in multiple hands.

A mall should therefore:

• confirm with its local body which entity registers the mall and files the annual return, and record the decision;
• ensure that the registration and the annual return are in the same name;
• set out in tenant agreements each tenant's duty to segregate, use the mall's storage points and share its waste records; and
• keep the records that support the mall-level return, by tenant and by stream, so that the figures can be explained.

Restaurants and hotels inside the mall remain named entities under Rule 5(2) in their own right, and should be included in these arrangements rather than left to make separate ones.

Where a mall's waste comes from

The definition of special care waste lists items such as paint drums, pesticide containers, tube lights and expired medicines "generated at the household level" (Rule 3(1)(zx)). A mall should confirm with its local body how such items from its own and its tenants' operations are to be handed over, and keep them out of the wet and dry streams in the meantime.

Waste that falls under other rules

The SWM Rules 2026 do not cover industrial waste, hazardous waste, hazardous chemicals, bio-medical waste, e-waste, battery waste or radioactive waste (Rule 2). In a mall, that typically means:

• Electronics from stores, cinemas and building systems: the e-waste rules.
• Used oil from diesel generator sets and chemical containers from plant rooms: the hazardous waste rules.
• Inverter and UPS batteries: the battery waste rules.
• Waste from clinics, pharmacies or first-aid rooms where an occupier under the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules, 2016 operates in the mall: the bio-medical waste rules, and not mixed with solid waste (Rules 5(1)(k) and 6(m)). A bulk waste generator in that position also states the bio-medical waste quantity in its SWM annual return (Rule 6(m)).

Used cooking oil from the food court is also subject to food safety directions; see the used cooking oil reference.

A practical checklist

• Measure floor area, water consumption and daily waste, and record the basis for bulk waste generator status.
• Confirm with the local body which entity registers and files for the mall.
• Provide storage points for all four streams, and segregated containers in the food court, washrooms and service corridors.
• Write segregation and record-sharing duties into tenant agreements, including restaurant and hotel tenants.
• Decide on composting or bio-methanation for food court and landscaping waste, or seek an exemption if the mall is an existing bulk waste generator that cannot set up and operate decentralised processing, and procure EBWGR certificates for its complete wet waste.
• Keep the registration of every collector, processor and recycler on file.
• Keep e-waste, batteries, generator oil and any bio-medical waste out of the municipal streams.

How EarthReheal WasteLedger supports malls

The EarthReheal WasteLedger mall pack covers SWM alongside other rules that can apply to malls, including fire safety, lift and escalator safety, sewage treatment plant consent, used cooking oil handover, e-waste and bio-medical waste. Setup questions about the premises switch the relevant rules and checks on or off, including the three levels of SWM obligation described above. Each check is assigned to the responsible member of staff, and photographs taken in the app carry the device capture time and location. Handovers are recorded against the receiving partner, and partner registration and licence expiry are tracked. The annual return is linked to the daily records, with reminders 90, 30 and 7 days before the deadline.

To see which rules apply to your mall, take the free compliance check for malls, or see the mall compliance pack. For a walkthrough, book a demo.

This briefing is general information, not legal advice. Rule references are to the Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026 (S.O. 388(E)) as published in the Gazette of India on 28 January 2026. For the full text of each obligation, see the SWM Rules 2026 rule reference.