Hyderabad: 13 months of water bill waived off for consumers

Hyderabad: The Telangana government has decided to waive off 13 months of water bills for consumers, from December 2020 to December 2021.

The Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD) special chief secretary, Arvind Kumar, on Thursday, directed the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB), on Thursday, while they geared up to issue 13 months water bills to the consumers, who have not linked their Aadhar card details, to avail 20-KL (kiloliters) free water supply scheme, from January 2022.

Out of 9.60 lakh consumers, 5.50 will benefit from the government’s decision to waive off the bill in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits.

The decision comes after Telangana MA&UD minister, K Tarakarama Rao, during a review of the free water scheme, noticed that a large number of consumers had not completed the process of linking their Aadhar link to their ‘Consumer Account Numbers’ (CANs).

In the order to the HMWS&SB, Arvind Kumar also said, “recommence the water bills from January 2022 in non-slums including slums, domestic-individuals, multi-storeyed buildings (MSBs), and domestic bulk/colonies,”. Water bills of those who have already paid will be adjusted in their monthly bills, issued from January 2022.

All pending bills pending for the period to December 2020, will be issued separately without interest or penalty levied, on the consumer’s bill, for the period of 13 months.