Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) collects penalties of over ₹18 crore on average a month, nearly 10% of its overall water bill revenue now pegged at around ₹200 crore a month.

Out of the nearly 10.85 lakh connections it serves, 1.52 lakh connections are penalised every month. 

BWSSB levies penalty for three kinds of violations: for not installing Rain Water Harvesting (RWH), for buildings without Occupancy Certificate and for not installing Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs). 

RWH systems

All new buildings built after 2016 on plots of 30X40 feet and above have to install RWH systems. Not installing the same can attract a penalty of 50% of the water bill for a short period and on further non-compliance will go up to 100% of the bill every month. Data shows that 49,431 buildings pay penalty for not installing RWH and this amounts to an average of ₹4.56 crore a month. 

V. Ram Prasath Manohar, Chairman, BWSSB, recently announced that the Board will henceforth install RWH system at a cost of around ₹8000 - ₹10,000 for a built up area of 2400 sqft. Till now, consumers had to get RWH systems installed through third party vendors. The Board has also offered to install the RWH system and collect the cost in monthly instalments adjusted to the penalty the consumer has been paying. 

“Our goal is not to collect penalties, but to ensure water conservation. The Board installing RWH is a win-win situation for the consumer and the city as well,” Mr. Manohar said. (Till here)

OC Charges

BWSSB collects the most in penalties in the form of OC charges from buildings without Occupancy Certificates due to violations of building norms, to which the Board has given connections. Depending on the size of the building, the penalty can vary between 50% to 100% of the water bill. A whopping 1.03 lakh such buildings pay an average penalty of ₹13.20 Crore, per month. 

Earlier, water and power connections were given to all buildings even though they do not have OCs from the civic body on the grounds that these are basic amenities. However, a December 2024 Supreme Court order made OC mandatory for utility connections. Following this, the State government has given some concessions to the OC rule. 

“Earlier, we have given connections to buildings without OCs as well. A building with large scale violations puts a lot of pressure on our infrastructure network. Our sewage network is often overwhelmed and we need to repair it often. Considering all these costs, the penalty imposed on such buildings is less,” Dr. Manohar said. 

STP charges

BWSSB also collects ₹27 lakh per month as penalty from buildings that are mandated to install STPs, but haven’t. There are only 320 such buildings and sources in BWSSB said efforts are on to convince them and get them to install STPs.