Officials in the agency say the tariff will be more than doubled, pointing out at the same time that the new tariff structure will continue to be the lowest in the country despite the hike.

The Board meeting to fix the tariff was to be held this week, but it has been postponed. The government, the officials said, is delaying the decision in view of the negative public mood following the bus fare hike.

At present, the DJB charges different amounts across different consumption slabs. (see box). With the current subsidised rates, consumers are also not charged for the initial 6,000 litres per month. This means that 200 litres water is provided free each day.

The DJB now proposes to change this policy, which, the officials say, accounts for 12 per cent financial losses.

“Some modest price will have to be paid now. The new tariff structure, however, will offer incentives for saving water — you pay less when you use less,” an official said.

“The present tariff structure does not promote judicious use of water. This leads to over consumption, wastageand shortages in other parts of the city,” he explained.

Ramesh Negi, the DJB’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “The need is to augment DJB’s resources as the present rates are highly subsidised. Our expenditure on of account of power and wage bill has increased substantially -- by over 40 per cent.”

The DJB last revised its tariff in April 2005. Officials say the fresh revision will help the agency meet the increase in expenditure due to the Sixth Pay Commission, which has seen a direct Rs 200 crore jump from Rs 400 crore in salaries. The DJB also pays Rs 350 crore annually as electricity bill, another Rs 450 crore is non-planned expenditure for infrastructure maintenance.