MCG to formulate water bills based on property tax records

Using property tax records as a reference, the water supply division of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is working towards formulating water bills for

Using property tax records as a reference, the water supply division of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is working towards formulating water bills for nearly 3.3 lakh residents across the city.

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While the water supply division only has records of 67,000 water connections in the city, the MCG’s tax branch has a record of 3.97 lakh buildings on which it levies property tax annually.

Amit Sandilya, an executive engineer in the water supply division, said that the department is now using details mentioned in property tax records such as the size of the building, exact address, and the name of the taxpayer to generate water connection bills and issue them to 3.3 lakh residents, for the first time, starting next month.

“We have procured details from the tax branch and have started working towards generating fresh water connection bills for the first time for more than 3 lakh residents in the city. This will not only help increase the cash reserves of the MCG but also help us keep a check on illegal water connections,” Sandilya said.

Since January 2018, the MCG has started taking over the responsibility of providing water connections within residential sectors from the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP). During the same time, MCG also took over 37 HSVP sectors.

In May last year, MCG, HSVP, and the Haryana government had a meeting regarding the situation of water connections in the city. Even though the MCG was providing connections to about 67,000 registered residents, water bills were being paid to HSVP. The Haryana government subsequently directed HSVP to transfer all data and relevant details of the registered water connections to MCG.

As per MCG officials, water is charged at a flat rate in the city—the first 20 kilolitres are charged at ₹8 per kilolitre and for every kilolitre thereafter the charges are ₹10 per kilolitre.