On the eve of completion of one year of his Government, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday announced a waiver of water bills pending till November last year. However, political pundits claim that by waiving pending bills, the AAP Government is setting a bad precedent encouraging people not to pay their bills.
The Pioneer had earlier reported that the Government may waive outstanding dues of water bills of up to `2,900 crore.
Making the announcement, Kejriwal said, “After making 20,000 litres of water free for every household, we have decided to waive all pending water bills till November 30 last year. There were a lot of discrepancies in all those bills which can’t all be corrected. And due to people being unable to pay lakhs of rupees of pending bills, they don’t pay the current bills
either. By waiving the pending bills, we expect that people will at least pay their current bills, thereby increasing collections by the DJB.”
It must be noted that while late Payment and Surcharge (lPSC) has been waived on all the Bills, 100 per cent rebate on the basic bill has been given only to E, F, G and H category households. While A and B category have been given 25 per cent rebate on the basic bill, C and D categories have been given 50 per cent and 75 per cent rebate.
“But the rebate is only for those who have functional meters. If one does not have functional meter, they need to install one to be eligible for this benefit,” Kejriwal said, adding that by the end of December 2017, all households will have piped water connections in their homes. He also said that tanker water service will be stopped in the colonies where piped water is being supplied.
The Chief Minister said he hopes that with this scheme, the phenomenon of “fake water bills” will end.
Kejriwal also announced that Delhi will become the first city in the country where people will be able to drink water directly from a tap.
“DJB has promised that by 2017, clean drinking water will be supplied to the people of Delhi through its pipeline. DJB will set up several laboratories in different areas where people can get their tap water tested,” he said.