Delhi cabinet minister Parvesh Verma has announced that the government of the Union Territory will soon launch a “major bill waiver scheme”, and reduce pending “domestic bills by up to 90%”.

The previous government stated in June 2023 that 1.17 million consumers had domestic outstanding bills totaling ₹5,737 crore. Since then, the quantum of pending bills has only increased, said Delhi Jal Board officials. The UT has 2.89 million connections. It wasn’t immediately clear how the government would ensure that the waiver was not unfair to people who have paid their bills on time, and in their entirety. The minister did not elaborate on this and on the fineprint of the waiver.

“The billing system is also going to be updated, software for this is being developed and there are some technical issues that are being worked out,” Verma said, talking about the works to be carried out in water sector, PWD and Irrigation and Flood Control (I&FC), in a press conference to mark his ministries achievemnts in the BJP governments first 100 days in power in the

The massive backlog of unpaid water bills has been a contentious issue in the national capital . In June 2023, the AAP government, led by Arvind Kejriwal, announced a “one-time settlement scheme” aimed at benefiting approximately 1.17 million water consumers with pending arrears. However, the settlement scheme was never implemented owing to a standoff between the government and the bureaucracy. While campaigning for the 2025 Delhi elections, AAP once again promised to waive inflated bills if voted back into power.