Please read carefully in order to avoid any infringements.

 

 

Amendment to the Service Charge Policy

 

(Suspension/Termination of Water Contracts)

 

The Service Charge was introduced by the National Irrigation Commission Limited (NIC) in an attempt to recover those fixed costs, which accrue regardless of the supply or delivery  of water.  This is evidenced primarily during the rainy season when customers suspend  their irrigation operations and take no water from the system’s infrastructure.  In spite of  this, the Commission is obliged to service and operate its facilities in order to be ready to  serve when the need arises.

 

However, since the inception of the Service Charge, the users of the irrigation system  have found it burdensome and inflexible.  This is so primarily in those cases where customers are either inactive or have been disconnected.  In such cases the Service Charge is automatically applied to the relevant account regardless of the length or period of inactivity or disconnection.

 

In an attempt to make the Service Charge more flexible and customer-oriented,  the Commission has implemented the following measures with effect from 1st April 1999: -

 

 

Changes in the Service Charge Policy

 

Inactive Customers

 

1. A letter of enquiry will be issued to every user who has not taken water for two (2) consecutive months. This letter will ask the customer to indicate within one month whether he/she intends to take water in the near future.

 

If no reply is received or the response is in the negative, then at the end of the third month, the contract of the customer in question will be suspended.

 

 

This will have the effect of preserving the customer’s contractual rights and obligations while at the same time freezing the accumulation of the Service Charge on his/her account to a maximum of three (3) months.

 

(It should be noted however that the Service Charge for that three (3) month period and any other amount brought forward on the account will still remain due and payable).

 

Additionally, this change in policy in certain cases will allow the Commission the flexibility to temporarily  reallocate the water under that contract  to other users.

 

 

2. If the customer receives water at any time during the contract suspension, this will automatically result in the application of the relevant demand charge on his/her account thereby reinstating the Contract into an active status.

 

 

3. If after an additional nine (9) months the customer is still inactive, the contract will be terminated.

 

 

Disconnected Customers

 

The same principles outlined for inactive customers will apply, save that a letter of advice of suspension of contract instead of a letter of enquiry will be issued to disconnected users.

 

It should be noted that these changes to the Service Charge Policy are not intended to cancel the Commission’s current policy on the waiving of the Service Charge in those cases where the NIC is unable to supply water for any period in excess of one month.

 

The Commission is constantly trying to improve its service to you, and hopes that these changes will assist in the operation and development of your enterprise.