Hyderabad water board mulls sewerage cess hike

The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) is preparing to revise sewerage cess after a 14-year gap, following the Jubilee Hills bye-election. The Congress government is expected to approve the hike, which could range between 5–15 per cent.

Hyderabad: With the Jubilee Hills bye-election concluded recently, the Congress government may soon enforce a hike in the sewerage cess for consumers of Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) for both domestic and commercial categories.

The water board, facing a severe financial crunch, has been seeking to mop up its revenues from different sources, one of them being increasing the sewerage cess. However, it was kept in abeyance due to the recent bye-election for Jubilee Hills assembly constituency.

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The water board officials have now initiated the exercise to revise the sewerage cess after a 14-year gap. The board currently collects 35 percent cess on monthly water bills, which was last revised in 2011.

According to the officials, the process of revising the sewerage cess has been taken up and various factors, including the existing sewerage cess structure and the number of water connections, are being evaluated.

“A series of meetings with the HMWSSB Managing Director, HMWSSB Executive Director, HMWSSB Director-Revenue, and also with the Principal Secretary, MA&UD, will take place. Then, the revised structure will be sent for consent to the Chief Minister,” a senior HMWSSB official told ‘Telangana Today’.

If a final nod is received from the Chief Minister, over 12 lakh consumers, including domestic and commercial categories will receive increased monthly bills reflecting the revised cess, the official said.

However, the officials did not disclose the percentage of hike proposed in the sewerage cess but hinted the revision could be between 5 to 8 percent or 10 to 15 percent.

The move to revise the sewerage cess is aimed at addressing the financial challenges faced by the HMWSSB, currently facing a deficit of Rs 167 crore. The increased cess is intended to generate additional revenue to support the maintenance and development of the sewerage system.

“At present, the HMWSSB is earning Rs 101 crore every month as revenue through water and sewerage cess. It may go up by Rs 50 to Rs 70 crore if the sewerage cess is hiked,” according to a senior HMWSSB financial wing official.