The government will waive water arrears of consumers who live in colonies categorised E, F, G and H and have functional domestic meters, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday.
Delhi’s colonies are categorised under eight heads, A-H. Officials said A-D category colonies are considered as middle- and upper-middle residential areas. ‘A’ category colonies include those in Maharani Bagh, Chanakyapuri and Golf Links.
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, the Chief Minister said 10.5 lakh people living in these colonies would be benefitted by this move.
He said late payment surcharge too would be waived for those consumers who get their functional metres installed by November 30 this year.
For ‘A’ and ‘B’ category colonies, 100% Late Payment Surcharge (LPSC) will be waived while 25% of principal arrears will also be waived.
People living in ‘C’ category colonies will also get 50% waiver on their principal arrears and 100% LPSC waiver, he said.
In ‘D’ category colonies, people will get waiver of 100% LPSC and 75% principal arrears.
“We are expecting to earn ₹600 crore through this scheme. 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 in the billing system,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
Asked about “injustice” to those paying their water bills on time, the chief minister said, “We do not have to go for another such waivers in the future.”
There has been a 25% increase in the number of new water connections since the AAP come to power.
Unmetered water connections have come down to 1.5 lakh from 3 lakh in the last five years, Mr. Kejriwal said.
