Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).
Credit: Special Arrangement
Bengaluru: The Cabinet on Thursday approved the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board’s (BWSSB) proposal to provide a one-time settlement (OTS) option for defaulters.
Briefing reporters, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the one-time settlement (OTS) scheme will help residential and commercial connections settle their pending dues.
“Interest, fines and penalties will be waived under the OTS scheme. The OTS scheme will be implemented in a three-month window from the date of issue of order,” Patil said.
According to Patil, BWSSB has dues amounting to Rs 701 crore.
Of this, the principal amount is Rs 439 crore and Rs 262 crore is the interest accrued.
According to data with DH, as of May 2024, residential consumers owe BWSSB close to
Rs 288 crore, commercial establishments have pending dues to the tune of Rs 184 crore, and various state and central government agencies, including statutory bodies, are cumulatively sitting on dues close to Rs 176 crore.
Senior BWSSB officials said the proposal was submitted since the BWSSB was struggling to recover these dues which have accumulated over the years.
“We have been issuing notices and trying to recover the dues. However, not many are receptive since the dues, along with penalty and interest accumulated over the years, would be huge. Hence, if we waive penalty and interest, the dues may reduce, motivating them to pay up,” a senior BWSSB official said.
Another official said they could not cut the water connections since it was a basic necessity and many establishments took advantage of this. “Since this would inconvenience the public who visit these establishments, we could not disconnect supply and as a result, many of them continue to default payments,” the official said.