Netizens Protest Surging Water Bills, PAM JAYA CEO: Tariffs Have Not Increased

Complaints regarding drastically surging water bills have become a trending topic on social media. A number of customers claim to have received PAM bills with unreasonable amounts, some even reaching millions of rupiah.

The issue gained traction on the social media platform Threads. For instance, user @sept.yani shared that their bill for April was only Rp 33,343, but jumped to Rp 765,434 in May, although the recorded water usage also increased from 5 cubic metres to 69 cubic metres.

Similarly, user @Christyyapp reported a massive increase in their bill. “Is it serious that the PDAM bill increased 27-fold?? Usually, it is 60,000 per month, but now it is 1.6 million? This is for household use, not a factory or restaurant—is anyone else experiencing this?” they asked on Tuesday (2/6/2026). The user also displayed a May bill amounting to Rp 1,602,184.

Responding to these concerns, the President Director of PAM JAYA, Arief Nasrudin, emphasised that there has been no tariff increase from PAM JAYA since last year. “PAM JAYA’s last tariff increase was in January 2025, after 17 years without any changes,” Arief told CNBC Indonesia on Tuesday (2/6/2026).

He further explained that sudden increases in PAM bills are typically caused by leaks within the household plumbing. He noted that this must be assessed on a case-by-case basis. “It is true that, case by case, it could be due to excessive internal leaks in the house, or changes in the building area recorded by the system,” he said.

Consequently, he advised PAM JAYA customers receiving unusual bills to report them via the Hotline 1500223 or through the pamjaya.co.id superapp.