Delhi Government Extends Water Bill Surcharge Waiver Scheme Till 15 August

• 31 Jan 2026
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On 30 January 2026, Delhi Water Minister Parvesh Verma said the Delhi Government has extended deadline for its water bill surcharge waiver scheme. Now, the new deadline for this scheme is 15 August 2026. He noted that, so far, more than 3 lakh individuals have availed the scheme’s benefits. More than 16 lakh customers in the domestic category have pending water bills, as per the Minister. 

Since the rollout of the scheme, consumers have utilized rebates totaling Rs. 1,493 crore and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has successfully collected Rs. 430 crore in revenue. The Minister mentioned, “We expect recoveries to rise significantly after the next billing cycle once consumers receive updated bills reflecting the waived surcharges."

He noted that about 3,30,000 customers have benefitted from the late payment surcharge waiver scheme for water bills. The government's aim is to recover Rs. 5,000 crore in pending dues for Delhi Jal Board while waiving surcharges for late payment that amount to Rs. 11,000 crore. On 14 October, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had announced that there would be a complete waiver of late payment surcharges for domestic consumer water bills until January 31. 

Regarding the extension of the deadline, the Water Minister mentioned, "We were getting a lot of requests from public representatives and resident welfare associations to extend the deadline of the scheme. Also, there are several problems in DJB's billing system, due to which people who want to avail themselves of the scheme cannot do so. Now we were trying to fix the problems." 

The government is also planning to initiate water Lok Adalats where billing-related issues can be addressed immediately, the Minister added. Under the new scheme, consumers are required to pay only the principal amount, as the entire surcharge is being waived as a one-time relief measure.

Source: The Hindu