Water tariff hikes in all peninsula states except Perak from Aug 1

New water tariff rates for the entire Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan have been gazetted yesterday, and will come into force on tomorrow, on Aug 1.

With the exception of Perak and Labuan, the domestic tariff rates have gone up in all states.

In January 2024, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had said an increase in water tariffs had been requested by all the menteris besar and chief ministers of the peninsular states.

While water is under the purview of states, the Water Services Industry Act stipulates that tariff rates must be approved by the federal government.

For users with individual meters in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, and Putrajaya, the minimum monthly charge is unchanged at RM6.50. Likewise, the minimum charge in Johor for individual meters remains at RM10.50.

The highest increase in minimum charges is in Perlis (RM1.60 higher at RM8.80) and Kelantan (RM1.20 higher at RM8).

High consumption users will be most affected in Terengganu, where the tariff for the second and third tiers of usage is going up by 86 sen and RM1.17, respectively.

Hikes are also seen across most states for non-domestic users. In Perak and Labuan, the only increase is for the shipping industry.

All peninsula states and Labuan have also introduced tariff rates for data centres as a separate category.

Previously, data centres were classified as non-domestic users alongside industrial and commercial premises, and will face higher water tariffs under the new scheme.

In January, Span had called for additional measures to safeguard water supplies amid the growth of the data centre sector, whose operations consume large amounts of water to cool its servers.

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