Date:02/06/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/06/02/stories/2006060221920300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

A penalty for using less water

Afshan Yasmeen

User receives revised bill from BWSSB after lodging a complaint

TROUBLE IN POSTSCRIPT: A water bill where a user has been charged for using less water. — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

BANGALORE: If you are keen on saving water in your house, be careful. Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) may penalise you for using less water.

H.M. Thimmarayappa living in HAL 2nd Stage in Indiranagar has been charged Rs. 174 in the water bill of May 12 for using less water in his house.

The demand notice for Rs. 670, including charges for water, meter and sanitary connections, mentions that Rs. 174 had been charged for less consumption of 5,000 litres a month from March 2006.

Shocked at this, Mr. Thimmarayappa questioned the BWSSB's slogan "water is precious, conserve it for future generation." "My bill is contradictory to the slogan, which is printed in bold letters on the back of every bill. While Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. (KPTCL) has been giving me a rebate for six years for installing solar power equipment in my house, the BWSSB wanted to charge me extra for conserving water. This is strange," he said.

"This is not the first time that I am being troubled by the BWSSB officials. I have two meters installed in my house and the BWSSB has been issuing me clubbed bills for these connections.

"When I approached the Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission with this complaint, it asked the BWSSB on January 3 to prepare separate bills for the two meters with effect from January 2003 and pay me Rs. 2,000 for all the mess. The officials are yet to comply with the order," he said.

Error acknowledged

When contacted, BWSSB Chief Engineer (Maintenance) L.S. Khandappanavar told The Hindu on Wednesday that the operator had made a wrong entry. "The mistake had been acknowledged and we have despatched a fresh bill to Mr. Thimmarayappa," he said.

Mr. Khandappanavar said the meter reader had recorded that the "gate of the house was locked" for one of the two meters. And an average reading based on previous bills was entered in the computer and Rs. 174 was charged for this reading.

"The mistake has been realised and we have issued a fresh bill. Action will be taken against the computer operator," he said.