The Essential Services Commission has announced Victorian households and small businesses who have trouble paying their water bills due to the COVID-19 pandemic will now have access to greater customer protections.
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"The new rules will ensure consistency and provide greater clarity on the help that is available, including support for small businesses and halting debt recovery," the commission's director of pricing Marcus Crudden said.
A result of National Cabinet discussions, the new principles ensure consistency in the support offered in all states and territories.
Coliban Water said the formal announcement doesn't change the support it offers, but brings all water corporations in-line, to ensure consistency for customers.
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Coliban's executive general manager customer, community and stakeholder affairs Lauren McLean said the organisation has seen an increase in calls from customers wanting assistance during the pandemic.
"We have also increased resourcing to reach out to as many customers as possible with outstanding debt, to find the right solution for them," Ms McLean said.
Coliban said it has used a combination of letters, calls, SMS, email, social media, surveys and letterbox drops to engage with customers.
"Our account solution team have recently undergone additional training to deal with payment difficulty issues from customers, to ensure they can apply the right solution to each customer," Ms McLean said.
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The new principles emphasise the use of payment plans, not disconnecting or restricting supply to households or small businesses and waiving late fees, interest charges and charges for the collection of overdue fees for households and businesses in financial distress.
There are about 22,000 customers on water hardship programs in Victoria, an increase of 2200 since April.
"Since the end of April, the weekly average number of applications has consistently been two to four times higher and doesn't show any signs of slowing down," Mr Crudden said.
The Essential Services Commission is Victoria's independent regulator, tasked with promoting the long-term interests of Victorian consumers with respect to price, quality and reliability of essential services.
Customers experiencing difficulty can call Coliban Water on 1300 363 200.