To encourage people living in unauthorised colonies to get legal water connection and also boost its revenue, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has decided to reduce the fee and penalty for legalising illegal water connections.While in the domestic category, the fee dropped to Rs 1,000 from the current Rs 26,000, and in the non-domestic category, the charge was reduced to Rs 5000 from Rs 61,000. The scheme will be valid till March 31 and after that the people will have to pay the earlier rate.Addressing mediapersons, Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh said, “Currently, people living in unauthorised colonies do not have legal water connection. Most of them take illegal connections as the regularisation fees are high… So, we are giving them an opportunity to regularise their connections by March 31, by paying a minimal amount of Rs 1,000.”“This reform will not only benefit households in unauthorised colonies but also curb revenue leak and stop people from using water from Yamuna,” he added.Singh further said that while DJB has received around 1 lakh new water connection applications, it is yet to process the same, and this is resulting in an annual revenue loss of nearly Rs 51 crore. To address this, DJB will outsource the work to private players and increase the strength of license holders — who are authorised to set up new water connections — to over 1,000. Till now, only DJB installed new metre connections in the city.Singh said the new policy is aimed at introducing financial discipline and transparency in DJB’s operations. “DJB currently spends Rs 101 per litre on cleaning and supplying water in Delhi… By increasing collection, DJB aims to stabilise its finances… DJB cannot run on mounting debt,” he added.Further, Singh said, it has been decided that one would have to mandatorily furnish water bills while registering a property in Delhi. “This will ensure that dues are not carried forward indefinitely and that accountability is fixed at the time of transfer of ownership,” said the minister.Story continues below this adMeanwhile, DJB has approved projects worth Rs 3,000 crore, as part of which new domestic sewage treatment plants (DSTP) will be developed and new sewer lines laid in unauthorised colonies, which would be connected to the STPs. Union Home minister Amit Shah will lay the foundation stone for this project on September 30.THE BIG CHANGESWhat is LPSC?Late payment surcharge is levied on bill when the due date of payment expires. Earlier, this charge used to be 5% per bill, now it has been reduced to 2%.Total consumers: 29 lakhOutstanding bill in all categories — domestic, government, and commercial: Rs 87,589 crore.# Of this LPSC charge is Rs 80,463 crore, which is 91% of total billStory continues below this adDomestic and govt categories: Waiver applies only to surcharge, not on the principal amount of bills.# Total due Rs 16,068 crore, of which Rs 11,069 crore is LPSC# 18 govt departments, both central and state, owe Rs 63,019 croreDeadline:Oct 2025 to January 2026: 100% waiver will be offeredFeb 1 to March 31, 2026: Only 70% waiver to be offeredDocuments needed to avail waiver: All pending billsRegularising illegal connections in unauthorised colonies: Reduction in fee and penalty# Domestic category: From Rs 26,000 to Rs 1,000# Non-domestic category: From Rs 61,000 to Rs 5,000Scheme open till March 31, 2026.OTHER DECISIONS# Linking water bills to property registration# Outsourcing installation of new metre connection to 1,000 licence holders