Kullu to get option to pay water bills online, be rid of single-window horror

Abhinav Vashisht

Kullu, March 13

The consumers of Kullu town will soon be able to deposit water bills online. This will come as a major relief to them as at present they have to pay their bills at the single window counter in the office of the Assistant Engineer near Dhalpur. The bills are accepted at the counter from 10 am till 1.30 pm on working days due to which consumers have to face problems to deposit the bills by waiting in long queues. The consumers are generally given only 10 days, including holidays, after the billing date to deposit the bill, after which a penalty of 10 per cent is imposed. The Lok Mitra Kendras had also stopped accepting the water bills since 2021.

Basic requirement

Water supply here was gravity-driven, without any requirement of electric pumps. The state government should not charge a hefty amount for providing basic needs to the masses. — Karan, resident

Need intervention

The regulatory authority should check the anomalous late fee of over 10 per cent being levied by the Jal Shakti Department. — Vicky, resident

Kullu Jal Shakti Department Executive Engineer (XEN) Amit Kumar said online bill payment could not be started as the third party software developed by the contractor to accept the bills was not approved by the Finance Department. He said now the new tenders had been floated and the department would carry out the billing. He said the data of consumers was being uploaded and the online facility would soon be made available for the consumers of Kullu town.

Meanwhile, the residents rued that their water bills had increased by over 300 per cent after the meters had been installed by the Jal Shakti Department in 2020.

Karan, a resident, said: “Water supply here was gravity-driven without any requirement of electric pumps. The government should not charge a hefty amount for providing basic needs to the masses.” He added that his monthly bill had increased by over 3 times after the installation of the meter compared to the previous flat rate.

Another resident, Abhishek, said in many urban areas of the state, flat monthly charges were being levied, but Kullu residents were being penalised with hefty bills. He said water charges should be based on the abundance of water in different areas and expenditure on its supply and not to on making profit. He added that if water can be provided for free by some states having scarcity of water, charging hefty amounts from the consumers in the hill state with abundant water sources was not justified.

Vicky, another resident, said the Electricity Department charged around 1.43 per cent as late fee, but telecom service providers charged a very nominal late fee. He added that the regulatory authority should check the “anomalous” late fee of over 10 per cent being levied by the Jal Shakti Department, which was even higher than the interest charged by private moneylenders. He added that profiteering from essential public utility was neither justified nor ethical.

Officials concerned of the department said the late fee and water rates were decided by the higher authorities and Himachal Pradesh Water Regulatory Authority.

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