Business owners have complained of exorbitant and possibly incorrect water bills, some to the tune of 50 times higher than their bills from the previous month.

They have thus demanded answers from Selangor’s water utility body, Air Selangor.

Joanne Yap has operated her car wash business in Kepong for the past 14 years, and was shocked when her December 2017-January 2018 water bill amounted to RM6,820.55 – almost 50 times the RM138 she paid last October.

After taking her complaint to Air Selangor’s Gombak district office, she was advised not to pay her bill until an investigation had been conducted into her complaint.

“I hope they won’t terminate my water supply,” Yap told a press conference organised by her local representative Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng today.

Bakery owner Carine Wong told the same press conference she was also worried about her business' water supply, after refusing to pay the RM8,236.50 she was billed last month.

Wong showed reporters that her November-December bill was a mere RM433.32.

“Air Selangor must explain why my bill is this amount... I am worried they will come and cut water to my bakery if I don’t pay. I hope this will be settled,” Wong said.

The deadline to pay both bills has lapsed.

Lim urged Air Selangor to release an official statement on this matter to explain to the public if there has been any miscalculation.

The DAP lawmaker also encouraged other potentially affected business owners to voice out their complaints.

“I urge other business operators to come forward if they have (similarly) exorbitant water bills.

“Be calm and don’t pay the bill. Go to your (local) Air Selangor office or local representative for help,” he said.

Air Selangor assures no water cut

Following this press conference, Air Selangor issued a statement saying they had reached out to Yap and Wong about their complaints.

"We have contacted Segambut MP Lim Lip Eng and the complainants yesterday to offer our explanation on this matter. As such, we would like to inform that this matter has been resolved," said Customer Relations and Communication Department head Abdul Raof Ahmad.

Abdul assured all affected customers that payment for high bills could be deferred and that water supply would not be cut.

"Whilst waiting for these high bills to be verified, customers may defer their bill payments for January and February 2018.

"We would like to assure our customers that their water supply will not be disconnected as the disconnection exercise has been put on hold until end March 2018," he explained.

Air Selangor also urged its customers with water bill concerns to contact it through multiple channels.

"We view this matter seriously and urge customers who have concerns on their bills to call 15300, email us and provide us your full name, account number and contact number or a copy of water bill received or WhatsApp a photo of the bill to 019-2816793 / 019-2800919," the statement said.