Oman's Public Authority for Electricity and Water announces hike in water tariffs

Business Tuesday 15/March/2016 22:25 PM
By: Times News Service
Oman's Public Authority for Electricity and Water announces hike in water tariffs

Muscat: Water rates for government, commercial and industrial consumption have been raised with effect from March, the Public Authority for Electricity and Water (PAEW) has announced.
Read here: There is enough water in Oman to meet demand, says PAEW
The new tariff for government consumption will be 3.5 baizas per gallon, with the same charged for commercial and industrial consumption, reflecting a 0.5 baiza hike in the water tariff.
Mohammad Ali Al Yahyaee, senior manager of Operations and Control at PAEW said, “The Authority will activate the new price for water consumption in government commercial and industrial uses starting with the invoice issued for March 2016.”
He added that the new tariff was printed on the February invoice in order for customers to be aware of the impending change.
Al Yahyaee added, “The authority is continuing with the new tariff to encourage subscribers in government, commercial and industrial sectors to reduce the use of water consumption.”
He added that according to data, the rate of water consumption is high and that the average cost of production and distribution of water is nearly 7 baizas per gallon while the water is sold to customer at less than half the price.
Residential water consumption rate remains fixed, where the consumption of one to 5,000 gallons is priced at 2 baizas per gallon; and 2.5 baizas per gallon for those consuming more than 5,000 gallons of water.
This is determined due to the fixed price adopted in which the water is sold to water tankers at the price of 1 baiza per gallon for tankers that hold less than 700 gallons of water and 3 baizas for those with a capacity higher than 700 gallons.