Economy

City water defaulters face legal action as unpaid bills hit Sh1bn mark

bill

NCWSC has given its customers up to the end of the month to clear unpaid bills amounting to Sh1 billion. PHOTO | FILE

The Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) has given its customers up to the end of the month to clear unpaid bills amounting to Sh1 billion or risk legal action.

It also threatened to forward defaulters’ names to the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB). The company has been grappling with unpaid bills that has seen it in remove pipes from its customers’ homes in the fight against bill defaulters.

The utility normally disconnects water supply by removing meters, but has changed tack as it races to reduce unpaid bills that crossed the Sh1 billion at end of May.

“NCWSC is urging all customers with outstanding debts to clear their water bills before Thursday, June 30, failure to which the company shall take legal action and the account holders details will be forwarded to Credit Reference Bureau,” reads the message from the company.

By sending their details to CRB, it means that the affected individuals will have difficulties in acquiring loans from financial institutions.

The utility firm is currently turning to technology with the launch of a text-based service to phase out printed bills, a move that it says will boost revenue and cut operational costs.

NCWSC also has a mobile application for reading metres and which relays the readings and the photograph of the meter back to the headquarters. The application has a time stamp and a global positioning system that tells the location of the customer.

It has also enabled NCWSC to monitor and ensure that metres due for disconnection are acted upon. The water firm plans to do away with banking halls in the next two years once the technology is fully adopted.

Nairobi Water currently serves about four million consumers and is expected to connect 200,000 households to the water supply network in the next three years as it invests Sh1.2 billion raised from tariff increase in grid expansion plan.