Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses a press conference at Delhi Secretariat in New Delhi on Tuesda... Read More

NEW DELHI: Delhiites who haven’t being paying their water bills can now do so at a heavy discount and a total waiver on late payment surcharge. In the lower-end localities, this translates to a 100% waiver of past dues for domestic users till March this year.

With assembly elections due in less than six months, the AAP government on Tuesday announced a bonanza for the city, waiving off all water arrears of domestic consumers living in E, F, G and H category residential colonies (categorised on the basis of house tax) while giving partial relief to residents of A to D category areas on accumulated bills till March 31, 2019.

The move comes within a month of AAP government making electricity totally free for those consuming up to 200 units a month. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had also made water free for those consuming up to 20,000 litres a month during his 49-day rule in 2013 and continued the scheme after forming the government again in 2015.

The scheme is open for consumers with working water meters. But others who get meters installed by November 30 this year will also be eligible for the late payment surcharge waiver, the CM said.

Kejriwal, who is also chairman of Delhi Jal Board, said about 13.5 lakh consumers are likely to benefit from the waiver scheme. There are about 22.6 lakh residents with functional water meters in the city. He added that most of these arrears were pending for two to five years. DJB had launched similar waiver schemes in 2016 and 2017.

Till March 31 this year, domestic and commercial consumers owed Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 1,500 crore, respectively, to DJB. Kejriwal said the agency was likely to earn nearly Rs 600 crore with this scheme. He, however, added that this was the last waiver for consumers.

Kejriwal described the scheme as an attempt to clean up DJB’s books.

“We expect to earn Rs 600 crore through this scheme, which will strengthen the financial health of DJB. This is an attempt to clean our books. The arrears have accumulated not just due to non-payment of bills but also due to the fault on DJB’s part, including problems in the billing system,” Kejriwal said

He added that move aimed to bring more consumers into the billing network through functional water meters in all households in Delhi.

According to the scheme, all consumers will get 100% waiver on the late payment surcharge. Those living in E to H category colonies will have their entire bills waived off till March 31, 2019. For A and B category colonies, DJB has decided to give 25% waiver on the principal amount, C category colonies will get 50% waiver and D category residential areas will get 75% rebate on principal arrear of their bills, the CM said.

For commercial consumers, DJB has decided to give 100% rebate on late payment surcharge. Such consumers, however, will have to pay the entire principal arrear in three instalments till November 30 this year to avail the rebate on late payment.

Late payment surcharge is calculated at 5% of the total bill and is compounded with each billing cycle.

Kejriwal also said that those who did not have functional water meters but were still running arrears, can also avail of the facility by getting new meters installed before November 30, 2019.

Explaining the details, DJB chief executive officer Nikhil Kumar said the DJB had empanelled seven agencies to install water meters. “Once the meter is installed, the consumer can inform the zonal revenue officer in writing to get the benefit of the waiver scheme. Thee consumer can also call up doorstep delivery of service at 1076 to get the new meter installed. We may soon organise special camps at various locations to facilitate the residents,” Kumar said.

Kejriwal said piped water network had increased from 58% of the total area in 2014 to 93% in 2019. Water availability had also increased from 820 MGD to 940 MGD in five these years while billing efficiency had improved to 95% from 80% under the AAP government. Unmetered water connections had come down to 1.5 lakh from 3 lakh in the last five years, he added.

“DJB’s revenue has also increased from Rs 1519 crore in 2013-2014 to Rs 1819 crore in 2018-19. As on August 1, 2019, Delhi has 23.73 lakh consumers who get piped water supply. We now want to provide 24x7 water supply in every part of the city, which we hope to achieve in another five years,” the chief minister said.



In Video: Big poll bonanza from Kejriwal: Delhi govt to waive water dues