Delhi CM announces 100% waiver of late-payment charges on water bill

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday waived off 100 % water arrears of about 13 lakh people with functional water meters.

New Delhi: 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 from A-H. Officials said A-D category colonies are considered as middle and upper-middle residential areas. 'A' category colony include those in Maharani Bagh, Chanakyapuri and Golf Links.

Addressing a press conference here, the chief minister said 10.5 lakh people living in these colonies will be benefitted by this move.

He said late payment surcharge will also be waived off of those consumers who get their functional meters installed by November 30 this year.

For 'A' and 'B' category colonies, 100 per cent Late Payment Surcharge (LPSC) will be waived while 25 per cent of principal arrear will also be waived.

People living in 'C' category colonies will also get a 50 per cent waiver on their principal arrear and 100 per cent LPSC waiver, he said.

In 'D' category colonies, people will get a waiver of 100 per cent LPSC and 75 per cent principal arrear.

"We are expecting to earn Rs 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," 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 waiver in the future."

There has been a 25 per cent increase in the number of new water connections since the AAP came to power.

Unmetered water connections have come down to 1.5 lakh from 3 lakh in the last five years, Kejriwal said.

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