Bengaluru: BWSSB issues water bills for demolished building, ordered to refund Rs 36,000 to owner

BENGALURU: An elderly man who was bombarded with water and sanitary bills for over nine years for a partially demolished uninhabitable building in JP Nagar took Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) to court, which has now ruled in his favour.
After months of litigation, the consumer court recently ordered BWSSB to pay the man a compensation of Rs 20,000 for the harassment caused, issue a 'no due certificate' and refund Rs 36,341 that he had been forced to pay.
Ajjappa, 61, owned a property in Sarakki village, JP Nagar for which he had obtained a water connection and was paying bills to BWSSB. In 2010, BMRCL partially took over his property for Metro rail project and demolished a section of it. Ajjappa was left with a portion that was unfit to be occupied.
On March 2012, Ajjappa approached BWSSB with an acknowledgement from jurisdictional police not to raise new water bills on the demolished property for which the water connection had been officially discontinued. Despite this, BWSSB kept raising water bills and sanitary charges from December 2012 to July 2020.
On February 18, 2015 the complainant filed another application with BWSSB requesting it to stop raising bills. After making him run from pillar to post, BWSSB officials told Ajjappa to pay bills worth Rs 36,341 for the period between December 2012 and July 2020, when his connection was not in use.
Ajjappa paid the sum following written assurances from officials that the full amount would be refunded. But much to his shock, the water board continued to raise more bills. Infuriated, Ajjappa sent a legal notice to BWSSB and approached the Bangalore 3rd additional urban district consumer disputes redressal commission in Shantinagar on August 2022 with a complaint against senior BWSSB officers, including additional chief engineer of the south Bengaluru division and the inspector of BWSSB JP Nagar, alleging service deficiency.
Ajjappa's lawyer presented his client's plight with proof from an RTI petition filed on the matter, while the BWSSB lawyer argued that the complainant was a defaulter and as per their records, he had to pay dues amounting to Rs 27,635 which included arrears, interest and sanitary charges, and that BWSSB had disconnected the sewerage connection from April 2022.
In its verdict pronounced on May 15, 2023, the consumer forum slammed the BWSSB officials for severe negligence in the case. The judges noted that it was clear that on March 16, 2012 the complainant had approached the BWSSB officials with the water bill issue and even approached Karnataka Information Commission under RTI Act to get information about the applications filed with the utility to resolve the same.
However, BWSSB and its officials dragged the matter and continued to raise bills and even levied interest on pending payments. They demanded Rs 24,868 on February 2022, despite the complainant categorically stating that since March 2012 he hadn't used water or sanitary connection to his building, the judges said.
Pointing to extreme negligence on the part of BWSSB officials, the consumer court ruled that the department's additional chief engineer and the inspector of BWSSB JP Nagar jointly refund the amount collected from Ajjappa after May 16, 2012 and issue a 'no due certificate.'
The court also ordered BWSSB and its officials to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation to the Bengalurean for causing him mental agony and Rs 10,000 towards his court expenses. The entire amount must paid within 30 days or it will attract interest as penalty, the court added.