News / Local
Water bills set to rise every month
24 Jul 2012 at 11:13hrs | Views
Are water bills set to rise by as much as over 1000 per cent a month? For another Bulawayo resident (name & house address withheld), who lives in New Lobengula, the answer arrived recently, and it did not trickle in.
His family water bill reached high tide as it went from $19.92 to $1246.49 in one month.
Upon consultation with the Housing Office no concrete explanation could be given. It was stated that the "modest" increase is in part a reflection of his family's miserly water ways.
"I understand that how high bills can rise depends on a customer's usage; unless they are saying it costs $10 to take a shower?" said the upset resident. He added, "But when the winter water bill starts to reach that close to the equivalent of an electric bill, something is drastically wrong".
He believes there is something the local authority is hiding in the closet.
Other residents said such looming water rate increases have become a norm and they deserve to know exactly where their money is going; posing thorny questions for the cash-strapped local authority.
"They are charging us for water coming in and going out when it is not going out; they are charging us for something that doesn't exist" said Micah Dlamini, another resident.
His bill nearly tripled from last month, he said.
"I am hard-pressed to believe this, is liquid gold coming out of the taps in this location?" asked Sarah Dube.
"Or maybe there is a leaking line or faulty meters?" she added.
Under certain circumstances, estimated bills may be necessary and are considered valid bills that must be paid.
If a water metre breaks and stops recording water consumption, BCC is authorized to issue estimated bills, (based upon historical information), and they are considered valid 'liens' until paid in full.
However, some homeowners challenged the local authority to offer some customer assistance programs that may help reduce your bill in such scenarios.
Some residents faced with the same issue questioned the billing systems as they did not receive letters informing them of the rate increase.
The cash stripping electricity authority has "raised their rates" unethically high also.
Have you got your new bill yet?
His family water bill reached high tide as it went from $19.92 to $1246.49 in one month.
Upon consultation with the Housing Office no concrete explanation could be given. It was stated that the "modest" increase is in part a reflection of his family's miserly water ways.
"I understand that how high bills can rise depends on a customer's usage; unless they are saying it costs $10 to take a shower?" said the upset resident. He added, "But when the winter water bill starts to reach that close to the equivalent of an electric bill, something is drastically wrong".
He believes there is something the local authority is hiding in the closet.
Other residents said such looming water rate increases have become a norm and they deserve to know exactly where their money is going; posing thorny questions for the cash-strapped local authority.
"They are charging us for water coming in and going out when it is not going out; they are charging us for something that doesn't exist" said Micah Dlamini, another resident.
His bill nearly tripled from last month, he said.
"Or maybe there is a leaking line or faulty meters?" she added.
Under certain circumstances, estimated bills may be necessary and are considered valid bills that must be paid.
If a water metre breaks and stops recording water consumption, BCC is authorized to issue estimated bills, (based upon historical information), and they are considered valid 'liens' until paid in full.
However, some homeowners challenged the local authority to offer some customer assistance programs that may help reduce your bill in such scenarios.
Some residents faced with the same issue questioned the billing systems as they did not receive letters informing them of the rate increase.
The cash stripping electricity authority has "raised their rates" unethically high also.
Have you got your new bill yet?
Source - Byo24News
