The Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) has given the National Water Commission, (NWC), until the end of August to pay off its outstanding regulatory fees.

The NWC owes the OUR $38 million in regulatory fees.

The director of customer services and consumer affairs at the OUR, David Geddes, says the payments will be made in installments.

According to Mr. Geddes, the first payment of $10 million is to be made by the end of this month and the remainder is to be paid in eight equal portions starting in January.

He says the OUR has written to the NWC outlining the payment schedule. The utilities watchdog had threatened legal action if the Water Commission failed to indicate when it would pay its debt.

Meanwhile, the OUR says it will be holding islandwide con-sultations on the NWCs proposal for a 44 per cent increase in water rates.

The utilities watchdog had threatened legal action if the Water Commission failed to indicate when it would pay its debt.