Water bill tariff increased in all consumer categories by 10 percent in Jaipur

Jaipur: The tariff for water bills in Jaipur has increased by 10 percent. The increase for domestic, commercial and industrial water connections have come into effect from April 1. The consumers will pay from Rs 50 to Rs 400 more over the existing tariff. The bill you will receive in May and June will have the increased tariff added to it.

The tariff was increased in many categories including water consumption, sewerage charge, infrastructure surcharge, meter service charge and renewal fee without reviewing the costs of water supply. PHED had announced on November 5, 2015 that water tariff would be increased by 10% every year. It led to protests in the city bowing to which then PHED minister Kiran Maheshwari announced in the state assembly that tariff would not be increased for 2016-17.

But in order to recover the losses incurred by not increasing the tariff in the last financial year, PHED has decided to increase it by 10%. The average water bill will now go up to Rs 550 for each household from the earlier tariff of Rs 435. It was Rs 285 in 2015.

PHED claims that the department is forced to increase the tariff in order to get their loan application approved by banks. The financial institutes ask the department to verify source of adequate income before approving loan for water projects, officials said.