WASA to launch consumer survey
With revenues dipping, water supplier is going after illegal consumers.
RAWALPINDI:
The Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) has decided to launch a consumer survey this year in a bid to increase revenue and bring more users into the net.
The move is being initiated on the direction of the recently appointed Managing Director (MD) Raja Shaukat, as Wasa has been facing different problems owing to decreasing revenue, according to multiple officials.
There are about 90,000 residential and commercial water consumers on record in Rawalpindi city, and a similar survey in 2007 unearthed about 14,000 illegal connections, an official said.
After the illegal consumers were brought into the billing net, Wasa received a substantial increase in revenue. The need for new survey has risen as the last four years have seen many changes take place in the city regarding water users, the official added.
“Residents have converted houses into commercial properties and Wasa is trying to evaluate the number of such conversion and change the nature of billing for such users. Commercial rates will be charged from home-based businesses,” the official, seeking not to be named, said.
He further shared reports suggesting that several one kanal plots had been divided in to two, and even four housing units, but they kept sharing one Wasa connection. Such consumers will have to install separate meters for their houses.
The agency hopes to locate illegal connections using water without Wasa meters and said such users will be penalised before being brought into the regular billing net.
When contacted, Wasa Spokesperson Umer Farooq confirmed that the agency was going to launch a fresh survey in the city to determine the number of consumers.
The spokesperson further said the MD had announced incentives for the billing staff, with recovery personnel being paid Rs2 for each paid bill.
In a ceremony last week, the MD paid out the incentive to staff members and said all out efforts will be carried out to increase the annual revenue of the agency.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th, 2012.
The Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) has decided to launch a consumer survey this year in a bid to increase revenue and bring more users into the net.
The move is being initiated on the direction of the recently appointed Managing Director (MD) Raja Shaukat, as Wasa has been facing different problems owing to decreasing revenue, according to multiple officials.
There are about 90,000 residential and commercial water consumers on record in Rawalpindi city, and a similar survey in 2007 unearthed about 14,000 illegal connections, an official said.
After the illegal consumers were brought into the billing net, Wasa received a substantial increase in revenue. The need for new survey has risen as the last four years have seen many changes take place in the city regarding water users, the official added.
“Residents have converted houses into commercial properties and Wasa is trying to evaluate the number of such conversion and change the nature of billing for such users. Commercial rates will be charged from home-based businesses,” the official, seeking not to be named, said.
He further shared reports suggesting that several one kanal plots had been divided in to two, and even four housing units, but they kept sharing one Wasa connection. Such consumers will have to install separate meters for their houses.
The agency hopes to locate illegal connections using water without Wasa meters and said such users will be penalised before being brought into the regular billing net.
When contacted, Wasa Spokesperson Umer Farooq confirmed that the agency was going to launch a fresh survey in the city to determine the number of consumers.
The spokesperson further said the MD had announced incentives for the billing staff, with recovery personnel being paid Rs2 for each paid bill.
In a ceremony last week, the MD paid out the incentive to staff members and said all out efforts will be carried out to increase the annual revenue of the agency.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 24th, 2012.