THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Alappuzha Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has set aside a Kerala Water Authority (KWA) bill based on observations that high air pressure could have aggravated the meter readings. As per the complaint filed by Bineesh S. of Cherthala, he had received a bill of Rs 9,984 in December 2016. He raised the complaint of an inaccurate bill with the KWA. However, he again received a revised bill of Rs 19,083 in June 2017.
The KWA officials informed the forum that complainant has been remitting water charge at the rate of 67 per month up to December 2016. When the meter reading was taken in August 2016 and an average consumption of water was 39.98-kilolitres per month was noticed. Hence he was issued the bill of Rs 984 and by June an adjusted bill of Rs 15,452 was given. Meanwhile, the complainant pointed out that after raising the issue before KWA he closed the valve of his overhead tank. He would open it only when next refill was needed.
By October, the average consumption dropped to 13.5 kilolitres. Hence, the higher reading could have been due to the air pressure in the water meter. With this, the KWA also agreed for a settlement. The consumer forum directed KWA to compute the bill considering an average consumption of 13.5 kilolitres per month and issue a new bill.
