HMWS&SB told to refund ₹3.9 lakh to Mallapur resident with 9% interest
HYDERABAD: The Hyderabad District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-II has directed the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) to refund ₹3,95,200 to a 71-year-old Mallapur resident, along with 9% annual interest, after he was denied a drinking water connection despite paying the required charges.
P. Lakshma Reddy, a retired employee, applied for a drinking water connection for his G+5 apartment building in 2019. The water board issued a feasibility certificate in June that year.
Reddy subsequently paid ₹3,95,200 to HMWS&SB in two instalments towards the connection. However, the connection was not provided even after construction of the building was completed in 2021.
The water board cited the main water pipeline being around 180 metres from the building as the reason for not providing the connection, according to the case details.
Reddy later sought a refund of the amount he had paid. The amount was not refunded, following which he approached the board again in April 2025.
Instead of refunding the money or providing the connection, the board issued a fresh notice seeking ₹5,62,430 from Reddy, citing revised estimates.
Reddy then approached the consumer commission.
Commission holds failure to provide connection was deficiency
The commission held that collecting ₹3,95,200 from the consumer and failing to provide the drinking water connection for years amounted to deficiency in service.
The bench directed HMWS&SB to refund the entire ₹3,95,200 with 9% annual interest. It also directed the board to pay ₹5,000 as compensation for mental agony and ₹5,000 towards litigation expenses.
The order followed a dispute that began with Reddy’s application in 2019 and continued for about six years without the promised water connection.
The commission rejected the water board’s contentions and granted relief to Reddy, who had already paid the connection charges.
