Over 100 central Irbid water subscribers pay bill via WhatsApp

AMMAN — More than 100 water subscribers in central Irbid paid their water bills this month using the mobile messaging application WhatsApp, according to the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.

The subscribers are beneftting from a new service the ministry activated earlier this year, under which subscribers can send readings of their water meters and receive bills via their mobile phones.

The service is available initially for the subscribers of central Irbid and will be applied in later stages across the country, according to an official at the ministry, who noted that 90,000 Irbid water subscribers will benefit from the service.

“During the first two weeks of this month, the Yarmouk Water Company received more than 160 inquiries from subscribers via WhatsApp about water bills values, while another 100 subscribers paid their water bills using the new service,” the ministry official told The Jordan Times on Thursday.

The Yarmouk Water Company runs the water and wastewater services for the northern governorates of Irbid, Jerash, Ajloun and Mafraq.

The ministry designated two numbers through which subscribers can communicate with the company via WhatsApp — 0797677782 and 0797677792.

The new service entails taking a photo of the water meter and its number and using WhatsApp to send the photo of the meter as well as a recent water bill to the company’s subscribers’ centre, which will in turn process the data, issue a new water bill and then send it back to the subscriber’s mobile phone via the messaging application.

Water meter readers will no longer visit houses and issue the bills as the new service is applied, according to the ministry, which said that the water company will dispatch meter readers for random inspections to prevent manipulation.

The ministry said the service is aimed at eliminating any inconvenience associated with waiting for a meter reader to receive the bill, while at the same time reducing expenditure incurred by the water sector.

The service also seeks to expedite and facilitate the water billing and paying process, regardless of the weather conditions or the fact that subscribers can be unavailable when the water meter reader arrives, which leads eventually to accumulating unpaid water bills that currently amount to JD8 million in central Irbid alone.

“More people are using the application to inquire about and pay their water bills,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the ministry has launched the unified water emergencies number (117116) which is now available for water subscribers in Amman, Madaba, Zarqa, Irbid, Jerash, Ajloun, Mafraq, Balqa and Aqaba.

The ministry official noted that Karak, Maan and Tafileh will be connected to the unified water emergencies number within a few weeks.