In a major step towards curbing misuse of Delhi’s water resources and plugging revenue leaks, Delhi Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma on Wednesday announced that hotels, banquet halls, malls, private hospitals and other large commercial establishments will now be billed based on the volume of sewage they discharge, rather than traditional water meter readings.
“Every drop will now be accounted for. The free ride for those making crores using public water ends now,” said Parvesh.
Calling it a much-needed corrective measure, the minister said the new billing system is aimed at institutions that have been profiting while exploiting public water resources without accountability. Many commercial units, according to the minister, either lack legal water connections or have non-functional meters, yet discharge large volumes of sewage daily. This mismatch between water consumption and sewage output, he said, reflects a long-standing systemic loophole, leading to massive losses for the government and unchecked exploitation of a critical resource.
He said that the government would now calculate water usage by tracking sewage output and back-calculating the likely consumption. This data will be cross-referenced with records from sewage treatment plants and licensing information of commercial establishments. Establishments that cannot prove the legal source of their water will be charged strictly according to their sewage output. The minister emphasised that this move is not a new tax but an effort to introduce accountability and fairness into the system. He said that many of these establishments have earned crores while consuming public water without paying for it.
He criticised previous administrations for allowing such exploitation to flourish and promised that this policy marks a clear break from that legacy. Singh assured that residential users, including low-income households and slum dwellers, would remain unaffected by this change. The new system targets only large profit-making commercial entities and seeks to ensure that those benefiting from public infrastructure contribute their fair share.
Reiterating the Government’s commitment to responsible resource management, Singh said the era of unregulated water consumption by powerful commercial interests is over.
