New Delhi: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has approved a one-time waiver of the late payment surcharge (LPSC) on water bills for dhobi ghats across Lutyens’ Delhi, officials said.
The one-time waiver on pending water dues, along with rationalised water charges for dhobi ghats, will reduce long-pending dues and make the system more reasonable. Secondly, as part of rationalisation, the tariff structure is also being reworked. Officials said that to rationalise the existing formula, the earlier 2.5-times multiplication factor is being removed and dhobi ghats will be charged at domestic rates. A major portion of NDMC’s pending water dues of ₹ 63.52 crore is owed by dhobi ghats and residential consumers, according to officials. Officials explained that around ₹ 37.5 crore is currently due in late payment surcharge and the scheme can help recover substantial sums in principal amount.
However, they will be charged at the highest volumetric rate within the domestic category for their bulk water usage,” an official said. Delhi water minister and New Delhi MLA Parvesh Verma said: “Water connections registered under the commercial category for dhobi ghats within the NDMC area have been converted to the domestic category. “Under the scheme, consumers are required to clear the full principal amount along with the current bill, which can be paid in three instalments,” an official added. NDMC categorises water users into domestic and non-domestic (commercial and industrial) categories, whereby service charge and volumetric charges are levied according to the category.
