The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has approved new water and sewer regulations to simplify the process of obtaining and regularising connections, ease documentation requirements, and allow individual water connections to dwelling units regardless of a building’s height, a senior official said on Sunday.

The Delhi Water and Sewer (Tariff and Metering) Regulations, 2026, will replace the 2012 regulations, which are expected to speed up the process of issuing new connections, and introduce clearer provisions for billing, tariffs, infrastructure, and security deposits. (Representational Photo/Unsplash)

The Delhi Water and Sewer (Tariff and Metering) Regulations, 2026, will replace the 2012 regulations, which are expected to speed up the process of issuing new connections, and introduce clearer provisions for billing, tariffs, infrastructure, and security deposits.

A senior government official said one key change is the provision for individual water connections to dwellings or non-domestic units irrespective of the height of the building, where technically feasible and prescribed conditions are met. Consumers will, however, be required to provide adequate water storage below 17.5 metres.

Under the 2012 rules, authorities could sanction up to six connections in a residential building. “The new regulations allow individual connections to flats beyond this limit, provided the prescribed conditions are met, including the availability of a kitchen in each dwelling unit,” the official said.

The 2026 regulations also seek to speed up the process of issuing new water connections and regularising unauthorised ones. “At present, approval takes around 40-50 days to obtain a new water connection, with the process involving site inspection, issuance of a demand note and subsequent activation of the connection. Under the new system, the approval will be issued first, followed by site inspection,” the official said.

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The DJB has also sought to simplify documentation for new connections by accepting Aadhaar or PAN as a key identity document, along with three documents sufficient to seek a connection.

The new regulations do not propose any change in existing water tariff, connection or application charges.

“Households adopting rainwater harvesting and wastewater recycling will be eligible for rebates under the new framework, while consumers will have greater access to digital services through the DJB portal and app-based service requests,” the official added.