New Delhi: Delhi govt is reviewing AAP govt’s flagship free water scheme, which provides 20,000 litres of water each month to each household, highly placed govt sources said.The subsidy may soon be available only in low-income family areas, they said.The move is being considered for streamlining resource allocation and reducing the financial burden on Delhi Jal Board. If this comes through, residents of relatively affluent areas will have to pay for water usage based on actual billing.AAP govt had announced the free water scheme in Delhi in Jan 2014 for all households with functional water meters. Consumers who used more than 20,000 litres a month were billed according to the regular water tariff. A senior official said govt wanted to give subsidy benefits only to the needy and deny it to those who could easily afford it, with the aim of reducing DJB’s losses.The board’s losses had increased from Rs 344 crore in 2019-’20 to Rs 1,196.2 crore in 2021-’22, while its debt was more than Rs 73,000 crore. The losses have mounted since then.The sources said that while a final decision was yet to be taken, the exercise to determine low-income areas would rely on MCD’s colony classifications for paying property tax. Delhi’s residential areas are included in categories ‘A’ to ‘H’. ‘A’ represents affluent neighbourhoods; ‘H’ denotes low-income areas.A senior official said that the scheme could be devised in such a way that upscale colonies might not receive subsidies at all while the less privileged ones would qualify for the benefit. The water utility might include additional criteria, such as property dimensions, in its assessment. However, for this to happen, DJB needs to fix its billing system. “The company that looks after the billing system has said it doesn’t want to work with govt anymore. So, we are in the process of engaging a new company after which a final decision will be taken,” said a source.In 2019, AAP govt had told the Delhi assembly that around 20,000 litres of free water was provided to each household each month by using nearly Rs 400 crore, benefiting 5.3 lakh consumers. This was in response to a monitoring committee telling National Green Tribunal that the scheme was being misused by several housing societies.“We have seen people installing multiple water meters in a house going by the number of floors so that they can use free water,” said an official. “Some even wash their cars using potable water, which is a waste of limited resources.”As of now, if more than 20,000 litres and up to 30,000 litres is consumed, Rs 220 is levied as service charge and Rs 26 charged per kilolitre. Those consuming more than 30,000 litres have to pay Rs 293 as service charge and Rs 44 per kilolitre.
