More than 100,000 Incheon Water Bill Defaulters Annually... Only 9 Collection Staff

Incheon City Councilor Lee Sun-hak: "Increase Collection Personnel to Eradicate Chronic Delinquency"

Despite more than 100,000 water bill defaulters occurring annually in Incheon for several years, it has been revealed that there are only nine dedicated officials responsible for collecting these payments.

According to Lee Soon-hak, a member of the Incheon City Council's Industry and Economy Committee (Democratic Party, Seo-gu 5), the number of water bill defaulters in the Incheon area has consistently exceeded 100,000 since 2018. By year, the figures are as follows: 108,973 in 2018, 111,299 in 2019, 103,686 in 2020, 100,718 in 2021, and 103,857 in 2022. This year, as of last month, the number already reached 105,831, continuing the trend.

On the other hand, the number of officials dedicated to collecting overdue payments is only nine in total: one in the Waterworks Headquarters, two in the Central Waterworks Office, one in the Southeastern Waterworks Office, two in the Northern Waterworks Office, one in the Western Waterworks Office, and two in the Ganghwa Waterworks Office.

To collect overdue payments, the process begins with sending a payment reminder notice to the defaulter within 20 days after the payment deadline has passed. If the defaulter does not pay after receiving the reminder, the collection staff issues a notice of water supply suspension (cutoff). After the notice period expires, the water supply is cut off. If collection still fails, the defaulter’s assets are investigated and properties such as real estate or vehicles are seized.

Lee Sun-hak, Incheon City Council Member [Photo by Incheon City Council]

To eradicate water bill delinquency in the region, these nine dedicated officials must repeat this process over 10,000 times each, highlighting the urgent need for increased manpower and other countermeasures.

Councilman Lee said, "Having only nine employees responsible for collecting payments from 100,000 defaulters means that Incheon City lacks the will to eradicate chronic delinquency," adding, "To root out water bill delinquency, the number of dedicated collection officials must be increased."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.