Why Should Citizens Suffer For Water Board Errors?
Faulty water bill sends senior citizen from pillar to post to get it corrected
Can one person consume 1.77 lakh litres of water a month? The BWSSB Bangalore thinks so. It slapped a water bill of Rs 6,018 on Vasundhara P, 80, a resident of Padmanabhanagar. As if giving a faulty bill was not enough, the board made the octogenarian run from pillar to post to get it corrected.
“I am living here for the past 29 years. The average water supply has been less than 50,000 litres every month, based on previous water bills. But I was shocked to see that the April 13, 2011 bill showed Rs 6,018. I have a house, not a commercial complex,” said Vasundhara,resident of Padmanabhanagar.
Her problem was compounded as the payment was debited through electronic clearance service (ECS), but she ended up paying Rs 3,000 in cash to BWSSB. In all, she has paid BWSSB Rs 9,018, which she hopes the board will refund. “I had applied for cancellation of ECS. Since the cancellation was not effected, BWSSB asked me to pay half the bill amount by cash. Why should citizens suffer for their errors?” Vasundhara asked.
Her demand for a refund met with a negative response. The engineer in charge said a refund is impossible, and he can only bring the case to the notice of the authorities.
“After I got the bill, I got BWSSB staff to check for water leakage to ensure there is no fault on my side. They told me that the error was due to a faulty water meter. I was told that sometimes, even after water flow stops, the meter continues to run due to air flow in the pipe. It’s ridiculous!” she added angrily.
BWSSB officials, who say that air flow in the meter could lead to inflated bills, advise that consumers install a U-shaped meter point so that air flow can be avoided.
“The issue has come to our notice. I have instructed my officers to visit her house and check the meter reading. This is a case of abnormal consumption. There could be a possibility of water leakage and problems with meter reading that has led to the inflated bill. In some houses, air flow inside the meter point can also get the meter to run faster. It happens when the number of connections of that pipeline are few. We will change the meter. ” said an official.
Vasundhara’s only hope was the BWSSB Water Adalat scheduled in her area on Monday, but to her luck, it was cancelled. “I was all set to raise the issue there. But when I called up the engineers, I was told that the meeting was cancelled as they had to rush for a meeting with the minister,” she said.
Bangalore, BWSSB Bangalore, Cancellation of ECS, electronic clearance service, Faulty water bill, Water Leakage
[...] BWSSB on Tuesday refunded Rs 2340 to P Vasundhara, a resident of Padmanabhanagar, after billing her Rs 9,018. BWSSB officials visited her home and [...]