The Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) is thinking about adjusting of water tariff as well as dividing the capital Dhaka into 10 zones and set new prices on area-wise and customer-wise.
The proposal was announced at a function to present the dissemination of a joint study by WASA and WaterAid on area-based water pricing at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on Sunday.
As per the proposal, the price proposed for 1,000 liters of water for upper class residential customers is Tk37.50. It means the price likely to increase by Tk22.32 per thousand litres for the upper class. According to WASA data, 0.80% of WASA’s customers in the city belong to the upper class.
The price of water for upper middle class households has been fixed at Tk31.25. The number of customers in this category is 1.3 percent.
The middle class people of the capital will get water at the production price. The price has been proposed to Tk25, which is Tk9.82 more than the existing price. And in the city, WASA’s middle class consumers are 4 percent in Dhaka.
For the lower middle class, the price is proposed to be Tk18.75, which is Tk3.57 more than present prices. WASA’s lower middle class consumers are the highest, which is 79.4 percent.
Low-income people will pay Tk12.5 for the same amount of water. As a result, the price of water will be decreased by Tk2.68 per thousand litres.
However, the proposed price will be discussed further at the customer level.
Commercial customers of WASA are currently paying Tk42 for per thousand litres of water. According to the proposed prices, Tk 8 will be increased for per thousand litres of water. The commercial consumers belong to 11.5 percent.
Apart from this, the government institutions will pay the same as production cost - Tk25.
WASA prepared the proposal for setting the price of water by checking how many types of customers there are in Dhaka; it has also taken into consideration the relevant laws.
Under the proposed plan, Dhaka has been divided into 10 zones to determine the price of water based on the area. In this case, there may be different prices in each zone.
The difference between WASA water production price and selling price can be equalised by setting the new prices - requiring no subsidy for the sector.
At present, the price of 1,000 litres of water in Dhaka for residential customers is Tk15.18 and Tk42 for commercial customers. WASA is currently spending Tk25-26 to produce every 1,000 litres of water. WASA has proposed to divide the capital into 10 zones and set the new price of water on an area-wise and customer-wise basis.
It was informed on the occasion that the difference between water production cost and selling price of WASA could equalize by fixing the new price. It means is, subsidy will not be required in this sector.
Among others Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperative Minister Tajul Islam, Local Government Division Secretary Mohammad Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury, Dhaka Wasa Board Chairman Golam Mostafa, Water Aid Bangladesh Country Director Hasin Jahan were also spoke at the event presided over Dhaka WASA Managing Director Taqsem A Khan.
