The National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) has decided to slap a 2.5% late payment charge on all State institutions that delay paying their water bills, with effect from 1 January, The Sunday Morning learns.

The decision to issue the late charge payment to the State sector comes as the NWSDB struggles to recover arrears owed to it by customers.

According to NWSDB Deputy General Manager (Commercial) Piyal Pathmanatha, the new charge will come into effect from 1 January with the standard grace period of one month.

Speaking to The Sunday Morning, Pathmanatha said that State institutions that failed to pay at least 50% of their water bill within 30 days would be issued a 2.5% late charge.

“To encourage them and all customers to make payments earlier, we are giving a 1% discount on the bill if a payment of at least 50% is made within 14 days of the bill,” he said.

“We hope this encourages them to make payments on time. Many institutions make other payments, like telephone and electricity, and are slow to pay water bills. This should not continue to happen,” Pathmanatha opined.

He would not comment on the arrears owed to the NWSDB from State institutions at present.

According to him, the NWSDB has also begun to streamline its billing procedure and reduce the usage of paper, with many customers now able to receive an e-bill via SMS if they are registered.

The utility provider plans to introduce close to 800 handheld android devices which can issue a printed bill slip or transmit an invoice to the client’s email address in the near future.