Hotels, restaurants in city up in arms against Metro Water’s ‘stiff’ charges

Ever since smart water meters were installed, the consumption charges levied by the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Metro Water) on hotels and restaurants in city have gone up manifold, some by as much as 600 per cent, said Chennai Hotels Association. Aggrieved by what it termed was unusually high charge, the association has urged the State government to provide a permanent solution.

In a petition to Municipal Administration and Water Supply Minister SP Velumani, M Ravi, president of the association, said that there has been a wide range of complaints across the city regarding the levy of high water consumption charges on restaurants and hotels.

“These unusually higher charges are being levied only after the installation of new meters to all the restaurants and hotels. The hotels and restaurants are sent notices to pay consumption charges 4 to 5 times higher than the usual charges,” Ravi said in the petition.

According to him, the hotels that were paying around Rs 15,000 water usage charges, have now been asked to pay up to Rs 90,000.

Another complaint the association raised was about charges imposed even during the lockdown period when these establishments remained shut following government order. “They have been asked to pay consumption charges for the lockdown period also,” the petition added.

The association also urged the government to ban the newly installed meters, and waive off all the consumption charges imposed on the restaurants and hotels for the lockdown period. The petition also demanded restoration of the older method to calculate water consumption charges without any mistakes.

When asked, a senior Metro Water official said that smart meters were installed under the Smart City Mission. They have been installed to measure the exact usage of water at commercial establishments, he added.

“Mechanical meters would show wrong details. To rectify the mistakes, smart meters have been installed. We are collecting Rs 80 as flat charge per month from the domestic usage irrespective of the quantity of water used. However, we are collecting higher tariffs from commercial, institutional and industrial establishments,” the official said.

The official added that for the commercial establishments, charges are calculated based on a sliding system similar to electricity usage calculation.