The Competition and Fair Trading Commission (CFTC) has launched investigations into alleged “unconscionable conduct” by Lilongwe Water Board (LWB).
In an e-mail response, CFTC spokesperson Innocent Helema said there have been a number of complaints from consumers who think the country’s five water boards have acted in an unreasonable manner.
He said some of the complaints were lodged directly to the commission while others were shared on social media.
“Without delving too much into detail as the matters are still under investigations, the complaints border on the manner in which the tariffs were raised and the processes followed,” Helema said.
He said once the investigations are completed, the commission will go public with its findings to ensure that there has been no violation of consumer rights.
LWB adjusted upwards its water tariffs for residential customers by 45 percent and 50 percent for commercial customers effective November 2021 billing cycle.
Customers with pre-paid meters have a flat rate of K1 001 per cubic metre.
Consumers Association of Malawi executive director John Kapito said on Sunday they also discovered that some water boards had effected their tariffs before they were gazetted.
He said: “Some consumers were affected by being over charged by high tariffs. The most that suffered were the pre-paid customers and LWB tariffs were relatively higher as compared to the rest of the water boards.
“We would wish CFTC probed all the water boards. BWB had similar issues and when we challenged them and they promised to give back tokens to the affected consumers and we really could not verify if all consumers were refunded. It is a worthwhile investigation.”
One of LWB customers, Charity Kaunda, said it was difficult to understand when the utility started effecting the new adjustment as the rates seemed to apply to previous bills.
When contacted, LWB spokesperson Chisomo Chibwana said: “We are not in a position to comment at this point.”
In a statement announcing the tarrif hike on November 9 2021, LWB said the adjustement will allow the utility to rehabilitate and expand the agent network and infrastructure which has contributed high non-revenue water.
