A large number of ordinary citizens gathered in front of the National Water Company (NWC) to protest against huge water bills. They believe the new bill has nothing to do with the increase in tariff effective from this month. The customers complained about a faulty billing system that has doubled the charges without any increase in consumption. The surprising turn of events is the result of the water company's lukewarm response to complaints by the citizens, who are ordinary subscribers who do not have at their homes swimming pools that consume huge amounts of water. Hassan Abdullah said he had visited the company last week and expressed his desire to meet the manager. "But they prevented me from seeing the manager. I am afraid they would stop the water supply to my house because I did not pay the whopping SR39,000 bill that I received." Abdullah Al-Dayab received a comparatively smaller bill of SR1,715. However, he feels that there was something wrong in the billing because his previous bill was less than SR500. He expressed his unhappiness because the company did not answer his queries on the sudden hike in the bill. Faraj Bougari, who earns a monthly salary of SR3,000, has got a water bill of SR2,000. "How can I pay this amount while I receive water from the pipeline only twice a week and our tank is now dry," he told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. Bougari lives in Nuzha district of north Jeddah. Ahmed Al-Habshi said he was lucky to receive a reply from a NWC official. "He advised me to rationalize water consumption and this indicates that the company would not reduce my bill, which has reached SR500." In Dammam, Mohammed Al-Turki said the plan to increase water bill would break the necks of citizens. He urged the authorities to fix the water bill, according to the monthly income of citizens. Anwar Al-Zaki stressed the need to reduce water consumption, as Saudi Arabia has one of the largest consumption rates in the world. "The rise in water tariff is astronomical and I am sure many citizens will not be able to pay. We are awaiting the first bill after the increase in tariff," he said. The NWC issues water bills every three months. In Riyadh, a subscriber, whose number is 4018000000, received a bill of SR11,428. He said the bill in the past did not exceed SR1,000. Although he had called the company several times, it did not reply. "Tuesday was the last day for paying the bill and the company has not yet taken any action on my complaint. I don't consume huge amounts of water and there is no swimming pool at my home," the subscriber said. Some people have attributed the huge bill to leakage of water and advised affected consumers to get their pipeline checked by a specialized company. "If there was no leakage, who will help me to reduce the faulty bill?" he asked.
