Delhiites consuming over 20,000 litres of water per month will have to pay 20 percent more from February 1, with the Delhi Jal Board approving a tariff hike today.
The decision, taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who holds the water portfolio, was criticised by the opposition BJP and the Congress with its leaders attacking the AAP chief by invoking his vocal opposition to the recent metro fare hike.
The government maintained that the hike will affect not more than 15 percent of the consumers as around 85 percent households will continue to be covered by the scheme under which no charge is levied for consumption of up to 20,000 litres a month.
DJB vice chairman Dinesh Mohaniya said the agency had to go for the hike due to financial constraints in the wake of implementation of the seventh pay commission recommendations and the imposition of 18 percent GST on new pipes.
The 20 percent hike will be on volumetric charge, which is currently Rs 21.97 per 1,000 litres of water for those consuming between 20,000 and 30,000 litres per month.
The service charge for this slab is Rs 219.62.
The sewer charges are 60 percent of the volumetric charge. Since the hike will be applicable on volumetric charges, the water bills will differ from household to household.
"For example, consuming 23,000 of water per month earlier costed Rs 465.55 per month, it will now be Rs. 514.79 per month; an increase of Rs. 49.24 per month.
"For consumption of 25,000 litres of water per month, the bill now will be Rs. 599.14 which earlier used to be Rs. 535.86; an increase of Rs. 63.28 per month," the government said in a statement.
Customers who use over 30,000 litres a month currently pay Rs 292.82 in service charge and Rs 36.61 per 1,000 litres in volumetric charge.
The DJB will not charge households consuming up to 20,000 litres a month, in line with the subsidy scheme of the Kejriwal government, which was a key poll promise of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), an official said.
In 2015, days after coming to power, the AAP government had hiked water tariff by 10 percent for consumers falling above the 20,000 litres category, keeping with an annual automatic 10 percent rate hike mechanism put in place by the Sheila Dikshit government in 2009.
However, in 2016, the government decided against following the auto mechanism and put another hike on hold.
The current hike comes three months after Kejriwal took over the ministerial portfolio of water after the removal of Kapil Mishra.
Mishra latched on to the issue and tweeted: "20% increase is huge. A budget promise is broken. Kejriwal was ready to give 1500 crore to reduce metro fare, why can't same money be used to reduce water tarrif???"
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari met Lt Governor Anil Baijal and demanded his intervention in the matter.
"The decision to raise the water and sewer charges by 20 percent is an irresponsible action of the government," Tiwari said.
BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta requested the LG to direct the chief minister to roll back the hike.
"The man who is raising hue and cry over increase in Delhi Metro fare shows no scruples in hiking tariff by 20 percent," Gupta said.
Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said that the the AAP government is going back on all the promises that it had made with people before coming to the power.
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