KHYBER: The Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) Rawalpindi has recovered more than Rs 1044.572 million in the first eight months of the financial year 2023-2024, WASA Managing Director (MD) Muhammad Saleem Ashraf said.
He said that on the instructions of Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Rawalpindi Director General, Kinza Murtaza, WASA has accelerated its ongoing revenue collection campaign.
The total number of WASA connections is 154,017, of which 137,629 are domestic and 16,388 are commercial, he said, adding that more than Rs 1,044.572 million have been collected in the first eight months of the financial year 2023-2024, which is more than the target.
Along with this, punitive steps have been initiated against defaulters which would further improve enforcement, he added.
According to the WASA spokesperson, an FIR would also be lodged against defaulters and illegal connections. In future, bill installments would not be allowed and customers would have to pay their bill in full, he added.
A mobile SMS service would also be introduced and bill information would be provided to all consumers through SMS, he said.
The Rawalpindi City Police Officer will be asked to provide a police team to assist WASA authorities in recovering WASA dues from defaulters.
For ease of doing business, a business facilitation center has been set up at RDA where representatives of all concerned departments are available, he said and informed that WASA will also appoint its representative to issue WASA No Objection Certificate and collect WASA fees if they transfer any property earlier.
The move, he said, would help boost WASA’s revenue significantly.
The spokesperson said that on the instructions of DG RDA, a survey of the tubes installed in all private residential systems which are sanctioned or set up illegally will be conducted and monthly groundwater charges will be collected from them, according to the gazette.
