Suwon City Charges Water Bills Without Meter Readings for Over 1,000 Cases

Suwon City has been arbitrarily charging water bills for years without reading water meters, drawing complaints from residents. In particular, some 1,387 households across the city have been incorrectly charged approximately 320 million won in water bills, facing criticism.

According to the city on the 30th, the Audit and Inspection Office conducted a water meter reading survey from March to May over two months covering the entire Suwon area from 2005 onward, revealing that meter readings and actual usage differed in 1,387 buildings in the Maesan-dong and Seodun-dong areas. According to reports, over 1,300 cases were found solely in areas managed by water meter readers A and B. These employees were confirmed to have failed to read meters for a minimum of one year to over three years, arbitrarily recording usage amounts.

Accordingly, the city has requested disciplinary action from the Gyeonggi Province Personnel Committee against four individuals: two meter readers and two supervisors who were negligent in oversight, with the disciplinary hearing scheduled for this afternoon. The city also plans to implement measures such as installment payment options and waiver of progressive surcharges for buildings with incorrectly charged water bills to prevent resident damages. Currently, approximately 260 locations in the Gosaek-dong area with incorrectly charged water bills have been placed on installment plans of up to 24 months.

However, the city faces criticism for failing to properly verify complaints raised by residents who initially claimed water bills were being improperly charged, thereby exacerbating resident damages.

A Seodun-dong resident, Mr. K, said, "Early last year, my son and daughter-in-law moved out, so there was no reason for water bills to be high, yet they remained the same," adding, "The city jealously claims overtime allowances for itself while mismanaging taxpayers' money."

Experts particularly point to the urgent need for systemic improvements to the "estimated meter reading system" (which calculates and reflects the average of three months' usage in charges), which is at the root of this fraudulent reading. Additionally, concerns have been raised about excessive workload as 28 meter readers conduct readings for 63,000 households across Suwon (calculated as one household per apartment complex, approximately 2,250 households per person).

An official from the city's Water Works Bureau stated, "We plan to deploy approximately 10 meter readers to visit households of affected residents in the Seodun-dong and Tap-dong areas, accounting for 50-60 percent of damaged residents, for one-on-one persuasion efforts," adding, "Once this situation is resolved, we will explore various measures."