BWSSB Water Bill OTS Bengaluru: 100% Interest Waiver Closing June 2026

The short answer. The Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) is running a One-Time Settlement (OTS) on overdue water bills from April to June 2026: pay your full principal arrears and the accumulated interest is waived 100%. BWSSB has flagged roughly 5.11 lakh consumers with dues totalling about Rs 851.33 crore as of end-February 2026. The trade-off for property buyers is sharp: an unpaid water account follows the connection, not just the seller, so a "great deal" flat can come with a dues tail, and the waiver covers interest, not the principal you still have to clear.

Quick facts: BWSSB's OTS scheme runs April to June 2026 and offers a 100% waiver on accumulated interest for consumers who clear their principal, with arrears of Rs 851.33 crore (Rs 539.43 crore principal and Rs 311.90 crore interest) spread across about 5.11 lakh defaulting consumers, per NewsFirst Prime (7 April 2026).

What is the BWSSB One-Time Settlement that closes in June 2026?

It is a limited window to clear old water dues without the interest piled on top. Under the scheme, a consumer who pays the entire outstanding principal gets the full accumulated interest waived, with the relief applying to all categories: domestic, commercial, industrial and government institutions. The board has been printing OTS notices alongside regular monthly bills so defaulters know their number, and dues can be cleared at BWSSB kiosks, the online portal and other digital channels.

For a city where water arrears quietly accumulate over years of disputed meters and vacant-flat billing, the waiver is a genuine saving on the interest line. The Hans India reported the same three-month April-to-June 2026 window and the 100% interest waiver for those who pay their principal in full, per its 22 March 2026 report.

How big is the arrears problem the scheme is trying to clear?

The dues are concentrated and large. BWSSB has about 11 lakh connections in all, and roughly 5.11 lakh of them carry outstanding dues, meaning close to half the connection base is behind on payment. The total stands at about Rs 851.33 crore as of end-February 2026, split into Rs 539.43 crore of principal and Rs 311.90 crore of interest, according to NewsFirst Prime. The interest portion, more than Rs 311 crore, is exactly what the OTS forgives if you settle the principal.

That scale tells a buyer something useful: water arrears are not a rare, freak problem in Bengaluru, they are widespread. On any resale flat or independent house, the water account deserves the same scrutiny you give property tax. The reasons accounts drift into arrears are mundane, a tenant who left, a flat that sat vacant, a meter dispute that never got resolved, but the unpaid balance is real and it sits against the premises until someone clears it.

It is also worth noting what end-February 2026 means as a cut-off. The Rs 851.33 crore figure is a snapshot, and interest keeps accruing until a consumer settles, so the longer an account stays open the larger the interest the OTS will eventually forgive. That is an argument for settling sooner rather than later within the window, not for waiting to see whether the relief expands.

Why does an unpaid water bill matter when you are buying a property?

Because the dues attach to the connection and the premises, not just to the person who ran them up. When you take over a flat or house, you generally inherit its utility accounts, and a large unpaid water bill can surface only after you have registered, when you try to transfer the connection into your name. At that point the seller is gone and the arrears are your problem to argue.

This is why the OTS window is quietly relevant to buyers, not only to defaulters. If you are buying a property with old water dues, the seller can use this very window to clear the principal and shed the interest before handover, leaving you a clean account. Build that into the deal rather than discovering it later.

The mechanics of the transfer are where buyers get caught. A BWSSB connection is identified by an RR number, and changing the name on it requires the account to be in order. If you register the sale, move in, and only then approach BWSSB to put the connection in your name, an old arrear can stall the transfer and leave you negotiating with a seller who has already been paid in full. Resolving the dues before money changes hands removes that leverage problem entirely.

How should a buyer use this window in a transaction?

Make the water account a closing condition, the way you would for property tax and khata. Ask the seller for the latest BWSSB bill and a no-dues position, and if there are arrears, require them to be settled under the OTS before or at registration. Since the interest is forgiven only on full principal payment, settling now is cheaper for the seller too, which makes it an easy ask.

The same discipline applies to other civic dues that travel with a property. Our guide to betterment charges in Bengaluru covers a levy buyers often discover at the khata stage, and our explainer on how property tax is computed and paid under SAS shows how to confirm a property's tax position before you sign.

What does the waiver not cover?

It does not erase the principal, and it does not future-proof your bill. You still pay every rupee of the outstanding principal; only the accrued interest is waived. The scheme also says nothing about your ongoing tariff, which BWSSB revises on its own cycle, so a settled account today can build fresh dues tomorrow if meters or billing are not fixed. Treat the OTS as a one-time clean-up, not a discount on water itself.

There is also a deadline risk. The window is framed as April to June 2026, so a consumer or seller who drifts past it loses the interest waiver and is back to paying the full interest-laden balance. If a settlement is part of your purchase, do not let it slip into July.

One more limit worth naming: an OTS settles the money, not the meter. If a property's high arrears grew because of a faulty or tampered meter, an unmetered borewell-fed line, or a billing category that does not match actual use, clearing the principal does not fix the underlying issue. A buyer who inherits a problem connection can find the same dispute regenerating. Where the arrears look abnormal for the property size, ask why, and have the connection inspected rather than just paid off.

Is this connected to the wider Bengaluru civic clean-up of 2026?

It rhymes with it, even if it is run by a different agency. BWSSB sits alongside the Greater Bengaluru Authority's property-records and khata drives as part of a broader 2026 push to bring overdue civic accounts current. The common thread for a buyer is that 2026 is a settlement year in Bengaluru: khata, property tax and now water all have routes to clear backlogs. Each route is separate, with its own deadline and its own agency, so do not assume clearing one clears the others.

The buyer-side lesson is simple. Use the windows that exist, but verify each account on its own portal. A flat can be current on property tax and still carry a five-figure water arrear, or vice versa, and only a line-by-line check before registration protects you.

For an under-construction or recently completed project, the picture is slightly different but the principle holds. A bulk BWSSB connection serving an apartment block can carry association-level arrears that eventually flow down to individual flats through maintenance accounts. If you are buying into such a project, ask the developer or association for the water account status alongside the usual approvals, because a shared dues problem is harder to escape than a single household's bill.

1. Ask the seller for the latest BWSSB water bill and the connection's RR number.
2. Confirm whether the account carries arrears, and how much is principal versus interest.
3. If there are dues, require settlement under the OTS before or at registration.
4. Get written confirmation that the connection has no outstanding balance at handover.
5. Plan the connection transfer into your name and check it does not unlock hidden dues.
6. Remember the interest waiver needs full principal payment; partial payment does not qualify.
7. Do not let a planned settlement slip past the June 2026 window, or the waiver lapses.

Does the BWSSB OTS waive my whole water bill?

No. The scheme waives 100% of the accumulated interest only if you pay the full outstanding principal. The principal itself is not reduced, and ongoing tariff is unaffected. If you pay only part of the principal, the waiver does not apply, so the relief is meaningful only for consumers who clear their entire principal balance within the window.

How many Bengaluru consumers does this affect?

BWSSB has flagged about 5.11 lakh consumers carrying dues out of roughly 11 lakh connections, with total arrears of about Rs 851.33 crore as of end-February 2026. That breaks down into Rs 539.43 crore of principal and Rs 311.90 crore of interest, so close to half the connection base is behind on water payments across the city.

Why should a property buyer care about a seller's water dues?

Because water dues attach to the connection and premises, so they can follow you after purchase. A large unpaid bill may surface only when you transfer the connection into your name. Use the April-to-June 2026 OTS to have the seller clear arrears, and make a no-dues water account a written condition of the sale before registration.

When does the scheme end?

The OTS is framed as a three-month window running April to June 2026. After it closes, the interest waiver lapses and consumers are back to paying the full interest-laden balance. If a water settlement is part of a property purchase, complete it within the window rather than risking the deadline, since the relief is time-bound and not guaranteed to be extended.

Last updated 2026-06-17. PropNewz Team.