USI Research Opportunity

Organization Faridabad Municipal Corporation (FMC) Name and Mission (one line)* Location* Faridabad, ,

Program / Regularisation of unauthorised water connections in Faridabad Project Name*

Background/ Problem Context* Total water supply in FMC per day - 160 million litres per day. Water lost due to unauthorised connections - 50 million litres per day. In addition to the water loss, the Municipality might be unable to take action even in cases where they know perpetrators due to the political interference.

Of the 35 city wards, the problem is more acute in 17 wards where approximately 50,000 to 60,000 households do not pay for water.

There is no incentive to regularise for the individual or the household as to get an authorised water connection, the households will have to pay a one-time connection fee of Rs. 11,000 (US$ 200), and then pay monthly bills as opposed to getting free water as they do now.

Project Goals Possible Interventions (preliminary thoughts) and Description • Awareness campaigns around taking an authorised water connection. • Incentives on reporting unauthorised connections (not sure if this would really work since it seems like most FMC officials already have this information) • Assistance with the filling out the paperwork (the paperwork is quite long and complex) • Community level scorecards - the idea is that highlighting communities/colonies with 100% authorised water connections may motivate others to authorise their connections. • Providing individuals or households a short term loan to get an authorised connection? Project This is a pressing issue for the Faridabad Municipal Corporation, and they can Timeline* start as soon as an appropriate research design is ready.

Other Partners • May require to partner with a communication/behaviour change organisation to develop appropriate encouragement modules • May need to partner with a local bank (if required to assist with the short term loans, etc.) Current Status* The Executive Engineer’s (EE) office is responsible for all the water connections in the city. The Municipal Commissioner (head of city administration) had asked us to specifically discuss options with the EE for regularising the unauthorised water connections in FMC. Unfortunately, we could meet the EE only for a short USI Research Opportunity

duration. There is a possibility of getting another meeting and more exclusive time with the EE, if the details are of interest.

The Municipal Commissioner of FMC and the Secretary for Urban Local Bodies, are convinced on randomized evaluations, so it may be worthwhile to pursue. What the What intervention(s) can lead to regularisation of unauthorised water partner wants connections in the city, and reduce water theft? to learn Research Incentives, pricing and willingness to pay, testing new technologies or solutions Themes Is it RCTable? Need to do further discussions to determine the randomization strategy. The problem is quite acute as between 50,000 to 60,000 households currently do not pay for authorized water connections. It may also be possible to randomize at a colony level as certain wards are badly impacted than others.

Project fully funded partially funded no funding available yet Funding* Budget : Evaluation fully funded partially funded no funding available yet Funding Budget: Relevant Web www.mcfbd.org links* Contact Person Partner: Mr. Bansal, Executive Engineer, FMC USI Team Member: Anantika Singh, [email protected]