Surcharge waiver on water bills a big relief

In a major relief to the lakhs of consumers in the city, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced a waiver of late payment surcharge on water bills pending till November last year. On the occasion of the AAP government’s one year in office this February, the CM also announced a slew of measures, including a waiver on the principal amount of water bills not paid, mostly due to irregularities in bills or meter dysfunction, based on property tax category areas.

Official estimates said that the outstanding amount against consumers as on November 30 last year is Rs 2854.80 crore. According to the amnesty scheme, those living in categories A and B areas got a waiver of 25 per cent on their bill’s principal amount. The waiver amount for those residing in category C areas is 50 per cent, 75 per cent waiver for those living in category D areas and a full waiver for consumers living in E, F and G category areas.

In a bid to check extortion by water meter reading men and faulty meter readings, the government has also started an online payment of the water bills. This has also been linked to the DJB m-sewa app, where the consumers can not only pay their bills but can generate bills on their own.

While extending the scheme to the consumers, the CM had called upon the economists to study the model on which Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has worked to provide free water, yet earn. “When we announced 20,000 litres of free water to each household, people said we would bankrupt DJB. We too were scared, yet we managed to earn more than previous years,” he had said.

Water being one of the major poll plank for the AAP government, the chief minister has also promised to provide piped water supply to every household by 2017, except 40 to 50 colonies that are on government land. For this, the government will give Rs 500 crore and DJB Rs 840 crore, as unauthorised colonies too will get piped water, he had said, adding that no tankers will be sent to the areas receiving piped water supply.

As part of the various water reforms, the DJB is establishing leak detection cells and other infrastructure to make drinking water reach every tap in the city.