Setting aside an exorbitant water bill of Rs 79,808 sent to a man, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Thiruvananthapuram, has directed the Kerala Water Authority to replace his defective water meter and pay him Rs 28,000 as compensation and litigation costs.

President P V Jayarajan and the members Preetha G Nair and Viju V R directed the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) to comply with the order within one month, failing which the amount, excluding litigation costs, would carry interest at 8 per cent per annum from the date of default.

“So in the absence of evidence from the part of opposite parties 1 (assistant executive engineer) and 2 (executive engineer), we cannot say that the water leakage has happened after the meter point. Hence, the opposite parties 1 and 2 have failed to prove that the meter of the complainant was working in good condition. The issuance of an exorbitant water bill to the complainant without any cogent reason amounts to deficiency in service,” the commission said on June 8.

‘Water meter working properly’

The opposite parties contended that during March 2015 and May 2015, the water meter showed an unclear status due to the presence of water vapour inside it. 

It was submitted that the meter was working properly and so there was no need for replacement. 

The opposite parties submitted that the overseer and the meter inspector inspected the site and found that an underground leakage occurred due to the breakage of the service line after the meter point. 

It was submitted that the heavy consumption was due to the leakage, and the complainant was directed to rectify the leakage and that the next reading was taken on September 15, 2015, and November 9, 2015, and the reading was seen to be normal and the consumption was only below 1 kilolitre and 4 kilolitre, respectively. 

It was argued that as per the KWA order, the complainant was eligible for a leak benefit of Rs 28,380, and there was no deficiency in service on the part of opposite parties, hence the complaint may be dismissed.

Leakage in service line

Consumer takeaway 

The ruling highlights that the authority cannot impose inflated utility bills on consumers due to deficiency in service on their part. In this case, the water meter was defective, and the authority failed to address the complainant’s issue despite him flagging the abnormal billing.

Consequently, the commission ordered the authority to replace the defective meter and pay compensation to the complainant.

For consumer-related grievances, individuals may contact the consumer helpline in their respective states (Kerala helpline: 1800-425-1550) or call the National Consumer Helpline at 1915 for assistance.