(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Residents in the Capital were shocked to see their utility bills this month after the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC) hiked the water and electricity tariffs from 6 per cent to 350 per cent across different sectors.
Most of the residents were shocked to get their January bills this month with revised and very high tariffs for both water and electricity. The ADDC had announced the revision in December last year, and the revised tariffs have been made effective from January 1 this year.
The section of the population most affected by the revised water and electricity tariff is the expatriates, who will now be paying an increased tariff of 168 per cent for water and 40 per cent for electricity.
The rates also depend on the daily consumption limits. If the limits are crossed, rate per unit will increase from between two to more than four times.
Also, according to the revised tariffs, locals - who previously did not have to pay anything for water - now have to pay Dh1.7 per water unit. While their electricity tariff per unit remains the same at 5 fils per unit. However, if they cross the daily electricity consumption limit, they will have to shell out 5.5 fils per unit, while expatriates will have to pay 31.8 per unit. For crossing the water consumption limit - that is 700 litres a day - locals have to pay Dh1.89 per unit and expats have to Dh9.9 per unit.
Water tariff for all government institutions has been increased from Dh2.2 to Dh9.9 per unit - an increase of 350 per cent - while for commercial and industry entities the rates have been raised from Dh2.2 to Dh4 per unit - an increase of 81 per cent.
Staff of embassies and consulates who were previously supplied water free of charge, now have to pay the same as expats for both water and electricity.
Electricity tariff
Similarly for electricity, all government properties have their tariffs raised from 15 fils to 29.3 fils per unit, while for commercial entities the rate per unit has been hiked from15 fils to 16. For industrial units the electricity tariff has been raised from 15 fils to 30, while embassy and consulate buildings' rates have been increased from 5 fils per unit to 16 fils.
There are also revised and new tariffs for agricultural and animal farms throughout the emirate.
According to ADDC, the hikes have been introduced to see to it that people avoid wasting both water and power that costs the emirate billions of dirham investments.
Mixed reactions
However, residents had mixed reaction over the new tariffs, some supporting the move and some upset with it, saying their budgets will be adversely affected.
"The use of both water and electricity has grossly been exploited because of cheap rates. For example many people leave their water taps running while shaving or brushing their teeth. Here in this country, it hardly rains so there are hardly any natural water reserves. The government spends a lot of money in producing water and electricity. Therefore, we must respect these investments and try our best to save these resources," Jonathan Smith, a British engineer.
Daniel Jacob, an Indian private company supervisor, was of the same opinion. According to him water and electricity has been wasted by most of the residents.
He said: "I have seen and noticed many families and bachelors keeping their air conditioners on even when they are not in their flats. In some cases, I noticed people leave their lights and air conditioners on and at times spend hours having showers. This is a real waste, and I'm sure these hikes will make them think twice when using water and electricity."
But a number of low-income residents said the hikes are a big burden on their incomes, adding that this will adversely affect their savings for their family members back home.
"The hikes are huge and unaffordable for people like us. It will keep our pockets empty. The tariff hike is really huge and will affect a big portion of the population, mainly the expatriates with low income," said Allah Bukhsh from Pakistan.
Jayanth Kumar, also a private company supervisor from India, said: "The increase in water and electricity charge is too high. We already had similar hikes several years ago and now this revision will surely affect all of us. I request the authorities to reconsider their revision of these tariffs."
Commercial entities, particularly small grocery shops have also say they will be badly affected by these increases.
Mohammed Ashraf, and Indian shop partner, said: "We are already suffering from high rents and poor sales. These hikes will further affect our businesses."
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