The National Water Service Commission (SPAN) has announced that the water tariff rates for domestic users in Peninsular Malaysia and the Federal Territory of Labuan will be adjusted come 1 February 2024, with an average increase of 22 sen per cubic metre.

Set to impact approximately 6.9 million users in the domestic category, the new water tariff is expected to result in a hike of between RM1.60 to RM8 in the water bill for each residence. This also translates to an increase of 5 to 27 sen per day for households that use 20 cubic metres of water per month.

In the announcement, SPAN explained that this increase was necessary and cannot be avoided without jeopardising the long-term sustainability of the water service industry. It is also crucial if water concessionaires were to deliver quality service to its customers by streamlining and embarking on various improvement projects. These include regular maintenance work, such as the construction or upgrading of water treatment plants, as well as the replacement of old pipes.

The commission also stressed that the increase is still low, and is actually not able to cover the actual cost of providing water supply services to the people – which comes up to as much as RM1.75 per cubic metre (based on actual 2022 records).

“However, in order to minimise the impact of the increase on the people’s monthly water bills, the water supply operators in each state are advised to continue the existing initiative of providing targeted assistance to domestic users, such as giving rebates to the B40 group,” said SPAN, adding that eight water concessionaires have agreed to implement such initiatives.

Furthermore, SPAN shared that with this adjustment, it will also begin to standardise the tariff structure and its components for domestic users in the states of Peninsular Malaysia and in Labuan under the newly introduced tariff setting mechanism (TSM). This will break away from the previous practice, where each state would impose billing differently for treated water.

“Prior to this, some states impose billing from the first 15 cubic metres of treated water, while others calculate from 20 cubic metre. Under the TSM, we will standardise it to be from the first 20 cubic metres,” said the deputy minister of the Energy Transition and Public Utilities Ministry, Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir, separately.

Akmal also urged Malaysians to be more prudent with their use of water moving forward, as well as utilise more water-efficient products. Additionally, they should adopt new habits, like harvesting rainwater or using recycled water as an alternative source for non-drinking purposes.

For context, SPAN had already pre-empted ahead of time that there will be an increase in water tariffs in 2024, given that some states have not revised their rates in over four decades. That said, it also commented that target groups, such as the B40 group, will not be burdened with a significant hike in their water bills.

(Sources: Malay Mail, New Straits Times)

• TAGS:
• Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir
• National Water Service Commission
• SPAN
• SPAN (Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negera)
• Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN)
• Water Tariff
• Water Tariff Setting Mechanism