utility bills (water)

[smedly]

I understand it is illegal to charge above Government rate 

 

My Condo is charging Gov Electricity rate but water is 3x the government rate which is a lot 

 

what options 

[bkk6060]

Could be a meter issue.  Contact the Jurassic office and inquire.  

Or maybe go to the next condo resident meeting.

 

I think it is not that uncommon for them to charge more but 3 x's seems excessive.

[Jack Hna]

Pack your bags. New digs mate

[baansgr]

Its not illegal. You are buying water from the condominium, not from the water authority.

[stephenterry]

Yeah, it's just another greedy scam that I've twice previously encountered. What is more of concern is it might not be the only money-maker a corrupt condo manager is running. That's also happened to me. The guy just took off with all the dosh intended for renovations/lift repairs etc.  And the staff knew he was scalping the fees for years and ignored it because only foreigners were affected... 

 

However, whatever 3 x water rate is, it's not a financial burden, is it - unless you've got a swimming pool or running a laundry business in/from your apartment?

[robblok]

I pay around 120 bt per month.. so if that was 3 times higher id still lauhg. Are you sure its only 3 times higher ?

[smedly]

3 minutes ago, robblok said:

I pay around 120 bt per month.. so if that was 3 times higher id still lauhg. Are you sure its only 3 times higher ?

sounds like you are paying water authority rate - my bill is averaging 400-500baht a month when it should be similar to yours

[smedly]

18 minutes ago, stephenterry said:

However, whatever 3 x water rate is, it's not a financial burden

it's the principal 

[robblok]

2 minutes ago, smedly said:

sounds like you are paying water authority rate - my bill is averaging 400-500baht a month when it should be similar to yours

I live in a house so yes im paying straight to the water authority rate. So i see its a matter of principle as 300-400 baht more then what im paying is not that much.

 

I wonder if you can sort it out and if you can thenmaybe they increase the rent. You never know.

[smedly]

41 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Its not illegal. You are buying water from the condominium, not from the water authority.

wrong, I have a water meter just as I have for electricity

 

it is illegal to charge more - go look it up

[stephenterry]

4 minutes ago, smedly said:

it's the principal 

Agree. My house and garden uses water and electricity to excess, IMO, courtesy of her indoors, but my current water monthly bill is always c.100 baht - for the last three months or so, the water authority are subbing their costs - as does the electric company - and last month's water bill was c.80 baht  - and electric c.700 baht.  

 

Condo management fees are a potential rip off system, IMO.

[ThaidDown]

Does your meter belong to the MWA/PWA or does it belong to the building and there is a single MWA/PWA meter that serves the whole building for billing purposes? If the latter then the price per unit will be higher than for a single residential building.

 

As for 'government rate' there are several. If the landlord has more than 5 properties for rent then he can charge the amount that he pays for the water plus 5 (or 10) %.

 

How much per unit (cu meter) are you actually paying?

 

[baansgr]

18 minutes ago, smedly said:

wrong, I have a water meter just as I have for electricity

 

it is illegal to charge more - go look it up

Does the water authority read the meter, or the condominium?

[smedly]

7 minutes ago, ThaidDown said:

Does your meter belong to the MWA/PWA or does it belong to the building and there is a single MWA/PWA meter that serves the whole building for billing purposes? If the latter then the price per unit will be higher than for a single residential building.

 

As for 'government rate' there are several. If the landlord has more than 5 properties for rent then he can charge the amount that he pays for the water plus 5 (or 10) %.

 

How much per unit (cu meter) are you actually paying?

 

I need to check this 

 

I pay 49baht a unit - it should be around 10-15

[smedly]

6 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Does the water authority read the meter, or the condominium?

I believe the condo reads the meter

 

[2 is 1]

16 minutes ago, smedly said:

I believe the condo reads the meter

 

Have you see normal bill from water conpany? Say owner you want haddle your self! Now qr code working from that bill(not before). Or can go pay in 7 11. They take little for that. Watch where water conpany leave bills. Normaly in mail box or same place where coming electric bill.

Edited July 21, 2020 by 2 is 1

[innosiem]

have you spoken with any of your neighbours to confirm everyone is the same?
(check with Thai owned condos too, to rule out dual pricing)
whatever action you take, there is strength in numbers

i must be lucky, as i don't have water bills for my 2 condos
i assume it is covered in maintenance (electric is gov bill)
have you checked there is no communal water charge ?
or does your bill state a high fee per unit ?
is the condo in a company name ? (as commercial rates may then apply)

[lopburi3]

How could we expect to pay meter rate if this is a high rise condo?  Water pressure would not get it to your tap if above second floor.  Condo must pump and store, even if source is public water supply.  It has to be more.

 

That said there is correctly a large COVID-19 reduction from MWA making total cost per unit only a bit over 7 baht from normal 10 or so.  

Edited July 21, 2020 by lopburi3

[2 is 1]

3 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

How could we expect to pay meter rate if this is a high rise condo?  Water pressure would not get it to your tap if above second floor.  Condo much pump and store, even if source is public water supply.  It has to be more.

 

That said there is correctly a large COVID-19 reduction from MWA making total cost per unit only a bit over 7 baht from normal 10 or so.  

Im just idiot Isaan area man i don't get that kind things lol. But should say in rental papers for every extra charge. What be included in rental "price". Or maintanance fee.

[luckyluke]

I often rent, if not via Airbnb ( I only rent all inclusive via them ) I insist my contract stipulate the guarantee amount, cost of 1 unit electricity, water, cost of internet, cable TV, cleaning service...( usually when I  rent a Condotel ).

So no surprise. 

[Pravda]

1 hour ago, smedly said:

it's the principal 

 

How much is the principal? 

[PGSan]

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Contact the Jurassic office and inquire.  

But surely they are all dinosores there? ????

[Delight]

 One has to look at the total cost.

This comprises the money paid out by the condo to government water supplier.

The cost to pump the water from ground level to high level. This has to include the cost of replacement pumps.

The cost to pump from high level to your room . Again including pumps repairs etc.

 Typically  co -owners are not interested in the taking the full view of costs.

They prefer to stick to their narrow selfish position.

[baansgr]

3 hours ago, smedly said:

I believe the condo reads the meter

 

I think you may find this is legal. If government water is cut off, the condo will ship in water at no extra cost....As you know government water is only 15 baht, and yours at 49 is expensive, mine was 40 when I owned my condo..just one of those things and yes it's the principal regardless if 10 baht or 1,000 baht extra...

[LukKrueng]

9 hours ago, smedly said:

I understand it is illegal to charge above Government rate 

 

My Condo is charging Gov Electricity rate but water is 3x the government rate which is a lot

The water authority bring the water to the entrance of the property. From there to the room it's the building's system: storage tanks on the roof, pumps, pipes to the units. So all condo buildings charge higher rate than the city's rate

[Scotssing]

Being on a condo committee I reckon half the time we make a loss on the water as there are frequent water outages and we have to buy at some expense water from water trucks. The water board charges us for the water through their meter. The water then goes to the pool, the gardens, the common facilities and the co-owners. I am pretty sure the co-owners meters are not owned by the water board, but I am not sure whether the individuals own them or the Condo. If the condo we would have to replace them if they malfunctioned. Once a year we have to clean out the tanks both underground and in the roof. A member of our staff has to go round reading the meters and preparing the bills so all in all not like a house where you get the water direct from the water board and no other expense. The fee we charge for water I am told cannot be changed by the committee but only by a General Meeting of the co-owners. The excess of the rate over the water board must vary from condo to condo but I know if we tried to raise it there would be a riot from the co-owners  so as I said at the beginning we possibly make a loss

[Fairynuff]

I remember being told a long time ago that the cheapest rate is applied to houses, and that condos are charged the same rate as hotels which is a higher rate. I’ve no idea if was correct information or not.

I currently pay around 100/month so it really couldn’t be much cheaper whatever the unit rate is.

[smedly]

44 minutes ago, Scotssing said:

Being on a condo committee I reckon half the time we make a loss on the water as there are frequent water outages and we have to buy at some expense water from water trucks. The water board charges us for the water through their meter. The water then goes to the pool, the gardens, the common facilities and the co-owners. I am pretty sure the co-owners meters are not owned by the water board, but I am not sure whether the individuals own them or the Condo. If the condo we would have to replace them if they malfunctioned. Once a year we have to clean out the tanks both underground and in the roof. A member of our staff has to go round reading the meters and preparing the bills so all in all not like a house where you get the water direct from the water board and no other expense. The fee we charge for water I am told cannot be changed by the committee but only by a General Meeting of the co-owners. The excess of the rate over the water board must vary from condo to condo but I know if we tried to raise it there would be a riot from the co-owners  so as I said at the beginning we possibly make a loss

interesting, surely some of what you mention should come from the maintenance budget

[rwill]

6 hours ago, smedly said:

I need to check this 

 

I pay 49baht a unit - it should be around 10-15

Government water starts at 10B/unit and scales up with usage.  My last water bill, for our house, 27 units usage came out to about 13.7B/unit.

[sandy102uk]

Many condos recoup the cost of all communal water use through the individual condo water meter charge. The alternative is to increase the maintenance charge which can be difficult. Seems reasonable for residents to pay for all the water. Doesn't really matter as it has to be paid for one way or other.