How is it calculated? Apartment residents must understand.
Perumda Air Minum Jaya (PAM JAYA) has officially launched the Direct Water Billing Program for Apartment Residential Units to improve service and ensure fair rates for customers in apartment complexes. This program ensures that residents receive 100% PAM JAYA water.
Background and Solutions to Inequality
Since 2007, apartment water bills have often used a flat-rate system that doesn't take actual usage into account. As a result, water-efficient customers are often automatically placed in the highest tariff bracket, creating inequities.
In response to this issue, PAM JAYA implemented a new system based on Jakarta Governor Decree No. 730 of 2024, which applies progressive water tariffs:
- Block 1: 0–10 cubic meters (m3)
- Block 2: 11–20 cubic meters (m3)
- Block 3: Above 20 cubic meters (m3)
PAM JAYA President Director Arief Nasrudin stated that this direct billing system is a solution to this imbalance. "Apartment residents will only be billed for the water they actually use. If water usage is less than 10 m3, the rate is based on the first block. This is a fair and transparent system," he said.
The apartment management welcomed this program. Lenny Wati, a representative from Robinson Apartment, appreciated the initiative because she considered it brought fairness to residents.
Lenny added that this collaboration creates a more streamlined, transparent, and accountable system, while maintaining the management's role in recording and submitting actual consumption data for each unit to PAM JAYA.
Reported from Kompas.com
https://kilasbumn.kompas.com/pam-jaya/read/2025/04/15/16074841/pam-jaya-terapkan-sistem-tagihan-air-lebih-adil-untuk-penghuni-apartemen
FPA-ID Team Analysis:
PAM JAYA's Direct Billing Program vs. Apartment Residents' Tariff Demands
The news about PAM JAYA's Direct Water Billing program for Apartment Residential Units shows a step forward in terms of transparency and internal fairness for apartment residents, but it does not touch on the core issues that apartment residents have been fighting for all this time.
1. What is meant by "First Block"?
In the context of this news, "First Block" refers to the lowest level of water consumption in the new progressive tariff structure established by DKI Jakarta Governor Decree Number 730 of 2024.
- Consumption Range: 0 to 10 cubic meters (m3) per residential unit.
- Tariff Implications: If a unit's monthly water usage falls within this range, the unit is charged the lowest per m3 water rate within the apartment rate category.
The goal of launching this program is to ensure that low-usage customers are no longer automatically placed on the highest tariff (Block 3), a common problem under the old administrator-managed billing system.
2. The Gap between the PAM JAYA Program and Residents' Demands
There is a significant gap between the justice offered by the PAM JAYA program and the justice demanded by the majority of apartment residents:
a. Objectives of the PAM JAYA (Internal Justice) Program
This program focuses on Fairness Based on Consumption.
PAM JAYA aims to ensure that, within the current apartment tariff categories, residents who conserve water are charged lower rates than those who waste water. This program addresses the inequities caused by outdated management practices (avoiding flat-rate billing that disadvantaged low-cost users).
b. Apartment Residents' Demands (External Justice)
Residents' primary demand is Fairness in Tariff Classification.
Apartment residents, as homeowners and residents, feel it's unfair that their water bills (and other water utilities) are often classified as commercial/office (non-household) rates. This rate is significantly higher per cubic meter than the rate charged to landed houses (households).
Analysis Conclusion:
While PAM JAYA's Direct Billing program is a positive step toward creating transparency and benefiting water-saving residents, it does not change the basic tariff classification.
- The "First Block" rate charged to apartments is likely to be more expensive per m3 than the First Block rate charged to landed houses or ordinary households.
In other words, PAM JAYA has managed to regulate how rates are applied (becoming progressive based on usage), but the basic price of apartment rates being the same as commercial buildings (which is the core of residents' complaints) has not been resolved through this policy.
