Water tariff goes up by 50pc

KATHMANDU, Feb 13:

Nepal Drinking Water Corporation (NDWC) has hiked the water tariff by about 50 percent citing soaring costs due to rise in inflation over the year. The NDWC has raised the water tariff for the first time in nine years.

Issuing a public notice on Wednesday, the Water Tariff Fixation Commission (WTFC) informed that the new rates will come into effect from Thursday at the branch offices of the NDWC across the country.

As per the new rate fixed by the WTFC, each service seeker now has to pay Rs 110 per unit from the existing Rs 50, twice the amount consumers are paying right now.
Earlier, the NDWC had proposed the commission to set the tariff at Rs 125 per unit.

The NDWC had proposed an almost 60 percent increase in the existing minimum tariff per unit.  Likewise, the corporation has also increased charges for drinking water supplied through tanker services. For 5000 liters of water, people will have to pay Rs 1950, an almost 50 percent rise from the existing rate.

"It was almost nine years ago when we last increased the drinking water tariff. In the course of time, fuel prices have almost doubled and salaries of the employees increased several times in line with the inflation. It was becoming difficult for us to maintain the operational costs from the revenue collected as per the existing rates. The increase in the water charges is only to maintain the operational cost of the corporation," said Arjun Babu Dhakal, director general of the NDWC.

Stating that the corporation is already in loss, Dhakal said the new rates fixed by the commission is still insufficient to offset the corporation´s losses. "We had sought a rise of 60 percent to cope up with the loss. But the commission revised the rates to make it more affordable for public," he added.

Currently, the corporation supplies drinking water in 19 municipalities including Pokhara, Biratnagar and Birgunj, and one village development committee in the country.
With the increase in water charges, the corporation has promised to improve the quality of the drinking water and work to meet the water supply demands. Likewise, the corporation has also aimed to enhance the institutional capacity of its branch offices.

Source: Republica