Here’s the situation, in a way that matches what you’re seeing on the ground: it wasn’t just “a billing tweak.” Ecuador is basically unwinding a long-running convenience system (garbage fee piggy-backing on the electric bill) and forcing municipalities (GADs) to use separate, legally cleaner collection methods.
1) What the old system was
For years, many municipalities collected the garbage/solid-waste fee (often called TRB or similar) by signing collection agreements with the local electric distribution company (like CNEL, EEQ, Centrosur, etc.). The fee appeared as an extra line on your electricity bill, and people paid it because:
- electricity billing has high coverage and strong payment compliance
- it’s cheap to collect (one bill, one payment channel)
- municipalities avoid building their own billing + enforcement systems
Even news coverage of the 2025 change points out that this fee was “normally” charged monthly on the electricity bill. (Teleamazonas News)
And an example from Quito (mentioned in reporting) notes a 2017 agreement to collect via the electric bill because electricity coverage was broader than water coverage. (Diario Expreso)
2) How rates were decided (in theory vs real life)
The legal “rule of the road”
Municipal fees like garbage collection are set by municipal ordinance (ordenanza). Under COOTAD, Article 566, municipalities can charge service fees (tasas), but the amount must be related to the cost of providing the service (and set by ordinance).
How that became a rate table people actually paid
Each canton’s ordinance differs, but the common patterns were:
- Different rates for residential vs commercial/industrial
- Different rates by neighborhood/zone or “service level”
- Sometimes a proxy like electricity consumption brackets or account type to estimate waste generation (easy to administer—also exactly what later became controversial)
So: the rate was decided by the municipality, but collection was outsourced to the electric company through agreements.
3) What prompted the change
The legal trigger: “separate billing” requirement
A key legal shift comes from reforms tied to the Ley Orgánica del Servicio Público de Energía Eléctrica (LOSPEE). A transitory provision (referenced in a Constitutional Court case file) ordered that GADs collecting garbage fees through electric companies had 180 days to update their ordinances, while continuing collection during the transition.
And the same legal framework (also quoted in that court document) says:
If a GAD wants an electric company to help collect the garbage fee, it must be done separately from the electricity bill, and the fee must not be tied directly/indirectly to the electric service bill.
The enforcement push: October 2025
On October 9, 2025, the government (via the Ministry of Environment and Energy) publicly said the garbage fee should no longer be charged on electricity bills in 41 cantons, citing the LOSPEE prohibition on linking that fee to electricity tariffs/consumption. (Primicias)
After that, the government also urged people to report if the fee still appeared, framing it as preventing “improper charges” and making the bill “fairer.” (ECUAVISA)
4) Where things are today (why communities are scrambling)
You’re exactly right: many cantons leaned on the electric bill for cashflow. When that channel is removed, cities have to replace:
- the billing system
- the collection system
- the enforcement system
…all at once.
A very concrete example: in Cuenca, the municipal cleaning company EMAC sought court measures to keep charging via the electric bill; a judge denied it and (per reporting) said EMAC had not complied since 2019 with the legal requirement to separate billing, noting the agreements lacked legal basis after the deadline. (Teleamazonas News)
Meanwhile, Quito officials publicly discussed moving the charge to the water bill (since that’s a municipal billing channel), and warned the rate would likely need adjustment. (Primicias)
5) What will happen going forward (most likely paths)
National reporting on the October 2025 decision says GADs must define their own charging mechanisms once the collection agreements end. (Teleamazonas News)
In practice, you’ll see a mix of these:
- Charge on the water bill (common “Plan B” because municipalities already bill water)
- Separate municipal invoice (email/physical + online payment portal)
- Add it to a municipal tax/payment (varies by canton; must still fit the “fee for service” rules)
- Hybrid collection: electric company may still collect, but as a separate document/payment (what the LOSPEE framework points toward).
What to expect as a resident/expat
- Transition noise: delays, duplicated notices, “where do I pay?” confusion
- Rate redesign: municipalities may move away from electricity-consumption proxies and toward clearer categories (property type, business activity, service frequency)
- Enforcement debates: if payment becomes voluntary-ish, some cities will struggle to maintain service levels without new compliance tools
Links to start with (reliable)
- Government announcement context + “41 cantons” list and LOSPEE rationale: (Primicias)
- “Report if it still appears” + GADs must define new mechanisms: (ECUAVISA)
- The legal backbone for cost-based municipal fees (COOTAD Art. 566):
- Court-file text showing the 180-day transition and the “separate from the electric bill” rule being litigated:
- Cuenca case showing the real-world legal/operational clash: (Teleamazonas News)
Sidebar: Sucre (Manabí) — where things stand now (early January 2026)
- What changed: The long-time practice of collecting the garbage/waste fee through the electricity bill (CNEL) is being unwound nationally. (Primicias)
- What Sucre’s rules already anticipated: A Sucre municipal ordinance (published in the official record) says that if a collection agreement with CNEL is not in place, the GAD Sucre would collect the fee through the “título de crédito” tied to water + sewer (agua y alcantarillado).
- How you can pay / check today: Sucre has an online payment portal that lets residents consult municipal debts by ID number and pay via PlacetoPay, plus it lists “puntos de pago” (payment points). (enlinea.sucre.gob.ec)
- Practical tip (for residents/expats): If you’re in Bahía / Leónidas Plaza / San Vicente side trips, the quickest “is my basura fee showing up yet?” check is usually the Sucre online portal (by ID) before you go in person. (enlinea.sucre.gob.ec)
Sidebar: Manta (Manabí) — where things stand now (as of Jan 5, 2026)
- No permanent mechanism finalized yet: Manta had been collecting via the electricity bill, but after CNEL stopped doing that, the municipality still hadn’t finalized a permanent system as of January 5, 2026 (16:24). (El Diario)
- Temporary plan (near-term): The city planned a temporary municipal “emisión” of the garbage fee, calculated from the average of what households paid in the last three months, and billed separately (not bundled with the predial). (El Diario)
- What to watch next: The same report says Manta expected a 2–3 month process to update the technical study and reform the ordinance, aiming for a more definitive decision around February–March 2026. (El Diario)
- Why people are worried: Officials and council voices cited the risk of a revenue gap (they mention around USD 6M/year) and the challenge that municipal-only collection may be harder to enforce than the old “pay power or get cut” model. (El Diario)
