Dublin City Council has been accused of "gross misconduct" following revelations that householders will have to prepay for bin services.
Livid councillors accused council management of failing to properly notify the public of the impending charges.
The anger came after the Herald revealed how householders will have to pay €100 upfront due to new requirements implemented by private waste company Greyhound Recycling.
Residents have until February 15 to pay the charge in full or their bins won't be collected.
However, angry councillors said the move has caused "widespread confusion among cash-strapped householders".
Cllr Emer Costello (Lab) said: "We are alarmed by this. We had major reservations about Greyhound taking over to begin with. The company has yet to issue calendars reminding people when their bins will be collected. Locals received no forewarning and this is going to cause widespread confusion."
Cllr Gerry Breen (FG) said officials had demonstrated a lack of communication.
Complaints
"City management should negotiate with councillors so they can inform local constituents of changes to services.
"From February, public morale will be dominated by complaints about these changes."
Council officials said those in receipt of a waiver will not have to pay the €100 charge.
City manager John Tierney said: "From Monday, all bins will be collected by Greyhound. If people don't want their bins collected by the company then they can change their provider. If Dublin City Council was to continue with the service it would have resulted in more arrears."
He said householders will still have to pay a lift charge of €1.50 for their bins.
Assistant city manager Seamus Lyons explained: "People must have credit in their accounts to cover the lifting charges. We have begun the process of issuing letters to advise people of the changes. If we issued them earlier they probably would have been thrown out."
Householders will pay upfront, as opposed to the €25 quarterly fee paid under the council service.
hnews@herald.ie