BENGALURU: The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has proposed a 10 per cent rebate on prorata charges if bookings for water and sanitary connections are made online from 2017. This initiative is an effort to put an end to corrupt practices by BWSSB plumbers and engineers when people approach them for connections and to encourage online payment.
This was a move initiated by former top officials at BWSSB -- then Chairman T M Vijay Bhaskar and Engineer-in-Chief S Krishnappa -- nine months ago. The plan was shelved after the chairman was moved out of the department.
Present chairman Tushar Girinath has decided to revive the proposal and suggested it during the last Board meeting held 10 days ago, said BWSSB sources.
“The proposal has been sent to the government for approval. We are expecting it to come through anytime. As soon as it gets the green signal, it will be notified in the gazette and will come into effect immediately. There is no need to call for public opinion in this case as it involves reduction of rates,” said a source.
The BWSSB receives an average of 1,000 applications for new water and sanitary connections each month and earns a revenue ranging between Rs 30 crore and Rs 40 crore from this each month, he added.
Pro-rata is the one time non-refundable payment deposited with the BWSSB by any consumer who applies for a new water and sanitary connection. This one-time fee is calculated on per square metre of built-up area. A hike in prorata charges ranging between 67% and 100% was effected after eight years in January 2016. The present rates are Rs 250.5 per sqm for a residential building (ground plus two floors), Rs 400 per sqm for multi-storeyed apartments and Rs 600 per sqmt for commercial establishments.
“The prorata charges easily runs into Rs 2 crore in the case of apartments with 100 flats and so on. So a 10% rebate will work out to Rs 20 lakh which is a big amount,” another source said.
Only 39 bookings since inception
Additional Chief Engineer, Management Information Systems, P N Ravindra, said, “There is an online tool already in place on the BWSSB website to facilitate booking. However, public awareness about it is low and only 39 bookings have been made so far.”
Asked about the corruption involved, the source said though there were bills provided by the department for the prorata charges levied, at least 10 per cent was collected as additional charge by plumbers and engineers in the name of processing the file or to install connection.
“The sum collected runs into lakhs in the case of multi-storeyed apartments,” a source said.
“The manual method of filling up applications and handing it over at the sub-divisional office will continue but this is a big move that will ensure quicker processing of applications and reduce charges for the consumer,” he added.
