Piped water charges to rise 9.8 pct. from Dec.

Piped water charges are expected to rise 9.8 percent starting December, or 150 won per household per month on average.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Construction and Transportation said Thursday that the increase would be confirmed through consultations with the ruling party toward the end of this month.

The Korea Water Resources Development Corporation, the national supplier of tap water, earlier planned to increase piped water charges by 40 percent this year to the level of 95 percent of the production cost and to 100 percent next year.

However, the government drastically lowered the increase rate under a policy of curbing hikes of public utility charges.

The anticipated opposition of consumer groups to a share increase also convinced the government to settle for the lower rate. The current tap water charge accounts for about 68 percent of the production cost.

If piped water charges increase by 9.8 percent, monthly household charges are expected to rise by 1.5 percent or 150 won to 9,800 won on average.

Sin Yeon-Su ysshin@donga.com