Only 33% availed water bill waiver in Delhi; last date Aug 15

New Delhi: Only 32

New Delhi: Only 32.6% of consumers with outstanding dues have availed of the Delhi Jal Board’s (DJB’s) Late Payment Surcharge (LPSC) waiver scheme since its launch last year, even as the scheme approaches its deadline in two weeks, according to DJB data.

Photo for representation (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Data shows that while around 1.46 million people had pending bills when the scheme was launched on October 14, 2025, only 478,999 (32.6%) of them availed of the waiver, and 67.38% of people still have outstanding dues.

A senior DJB official said the scheme was aimed at facilitating the payment of these dues, under which defaulters were required to pay only the principal amount while the government waived the interest and late payment surcharge.

“Since the launch, DJB has generated over ₹641.11 crore in revenue while consumers received interest waivers amounting to over ₹1,709.72 crore,” the official said.

Under the scheme, all domestic consumers can avail of a 100% waiver on late payment charges if outstanding principal water dues are settled.

At the time of the launch, the total outstanding amount of pending water bills (including all categories — domestic, government, and commercial) that the Delhi Jal Board had to collect was over ₹87,588 crore. Of this, the principal amount was ₹7,125 crore and the LPSC charge was ₹80,463 crore.

In the domestic category, pending bills were ₹16,126 crore, with ₹5,057 crore as the principal amount and ₹11,069 crore as the LPSC.

Although the scheme was originally scheduled to end on March 31, 2026, the government extended it in January this year, with the scheme’s final deadline being August 15, 2026.

The pace of bill payments slowed significantly even after the scheme was extended. The Delhi government on January 30, 2026, had announced that the scheme was being extended until August 15, citing the demand of elected representatives, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), and consumers across Delhi.

Until then, 3.3 lakh consumers (around 22%) had applied for the amnesty and ₹430 crore in principal dues had been collected as of January 29, the government had said.

Officials state that the Jal Board has introduced online and app-based payment facilities for settling outstanding bills. However, people are reluctant to pay. “Most argue that their bills used to be zero or were never generated at all, but they have suddenly been sent massive bills,” the official added.

DJB has around 2.9 million registered customers in Delhi, and many residents have complained about improper billing. DJB has been bringing rebate schemes on late payment surcharges on bills from time to time, with five amnesty announcements over the last 12 years.

Under these schemes, the consumer could pay the base amount of old bills without worrying about the late fee, and varying levels of rebates were offered on principal outstanding bill amounts (25–100%) depending on the category of the colony.

The waiver scheme for commercial connections was started on February 20, 2026, and it has also seen 12,496 consumers availing the rebate with a collected amount of over ₹4.71 crore.