Reader’s punching error leaves 76-yr-old with Rs 3.6L water bill

Colva: Imagine this; the water-meter reader rings the bell, takes the reading of the water usage on the meter, punches the reading into his mobile and hits print. Out scrolls the bill from his Bluetooth printer. He hands over the bill for a 35-day payment period to the daughter-in-law of the house and continues to the next house. Simple, right? Not quite.

For years, 76-year-old Rosamaria Gonsalves from Razvado, Varca, has been consistently getting zero bills as she’s been using minimal water. Then all of a sudden she got a water bill for Rs 3,61,874 for using 12,504 units of water.

Rosamaria’s daughter-in-law Sharon Gonsalves shared the shock and surprise with TOI. She said that on June 19 the meter reader visited the house, and as luck would have it she was there to receive the bill. It turned out to be one at the receiving end.

A quick glance at the bill showed the first digit was a ‘3’. This caught her attention and thought, “Since we’ve hired a maid to care for our ailing mother, the bill must be a bit higher.” The nagging doubt didn’t settle; from a Rs0 to Rs3,000? Something certainly didn’t add up. A second look and – bzzz! – her heart skipped a beat. The bill was a whopping Rs3,61,874. The billing period spanned a month from May 16 to June 19.

Sharon immediately called a family friend, Cruz Fernandes and shared the hard-hitting news. Armed with a WhatsApp copy of the bill, Cruz marched to the water department office in Margao. On investigating the matter the administrative staff discovered that the meter reader had goofed up.

Instead of 12.5 units, he had punched in 12,504 units, inflating the bill from zero to lakhs. Big shock!

Water department executive engineer Vishwamber Bhendi clarified the billing blunder, explaining the error on the part of the reader who had mistakenly added two extra digits. The mistake was promptly rectified and a fresh bill of Rs0 was issued. Crisis averted!