Arvind Kejriwal announces fresh sop for Delhi: Waiver of late payment charge on water bills

Months ahead of the Assembly elections in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced a fresh sop for Delhiites. Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal announced complete waiver of any arrears on water bills.

“Today we are announcing a scheme to waive arrears to clean up Delhi Jal Board's books. Some of these arrears are due to consumers but some are also due to incorrect billing,” said the Delhi Chief Minister.

The AAP leader said that the move was aimed at bringing a large section of Delhi population into the mainstream with regard to water supply.

“This is an open invite to the people of Delhi to join the mainstream and install water meters. Only those consumers who have installed meters before November 30 will get the benefit of this scheme,” said the Chief Minister.

Earlier this month, Kejriwal had announced that Delhi residents would not have to pay any electricity bill for consumption up to 200 units of power.

Making the announcement in the national capital, the Chief Minister had said, "People consuming till 200 units of electricity won't have to pay the electricity bills. Their bills will be waived from August 1." However, he added that if a consumer uses 201 units, "he will have to pay the full charge".

He had said, "For consumption of electricity between 201 and 400 units, about 50 per cent of subsidy will be provided," adding that "when top officials and government people can get free electricity, so can a common man".

Few days later, Kejriwal declared that the Delhi government would “soon” start providing free WiFi internet service, in accordance with the poll manifesto of the Aam Aadmi Party. He had said, “11,000 hotspots will be installed across Delhi. The work to provide free Wi-Fi has started. Every user will be given 15 GB data free, every month. This is the first phase.”