500 euros, 300 euros… Water regularization bills provoke anger among residents of the Nîmes urban area
Illustration, Vincent Andorra. Midi Libre – VINCENT ANDORRA
Thirty-nine households in the commune of Redessan, including a municipal hall, have received requests for regularization dating back two years. The substance and form annoy some of these residents who are mobilizing on social networks. All the communes of Nîmes Métropole are concerned.
Christelle is furious. Like 39 other Redessan households, she received an email on Tuesday, July 30, warning her that she had not paid for her connection to the wastewater network for several years. Amount to be paid: nearly 600 euros. Natacha, another Redessan resident, received the same email. She first thought it was spam. But a second email came to confirm the bill: 300 euros, for his part. “In the email, there wasn't even an invoice, just the amount to pay, Christelle protests. I had to call to get an invoice!”
For several months, in all the municipalities of the agglomeration, the company Eau de Nîmes Métropole, part of the Véolia group, has launched investigations, in agreement with the Agglo. Objective: to identify subscribers connected to the sanitation network but whose fee did not appear on their water bill, “even though they have been benefiting from the service for several years”, recalls Véolia Région Sud, which manages Eau de Nîmes Métropole, contacted by us.
“An injustice”
Once the subscribers have been identified, Véolia asks them to regularize their situation over the last two years, the legal limit for this type of request, according to the regulations of the public service for collective sanitation.
“It's an injustice, it's not my mistake,furminates Natacha, owner of a home she had built. I had declared everything correctly to Saur, at the beginning. It was when Véolia took over the market (in 2020, editor's note) that there must have been a problem. I am self-employed and if I make a calculation mistake, I am not going to harass my customers.”
“What is crazy is that it was a mistake on their part,”60~/em> adds”Christelle, tenant. I am honest, I have always paid my bills. Even though I used the service, I don't work at Nîmes Métropole: I can't check the work of the agents!" It was she who posted her story on Facebook, "to see if other people were concerned".
Hundreds of errors
On the Nîmes Métropole side, the vice-president in charge of water, Jean-Luc Chailan, explains that a “hundred water points were not connected. Hundreds of errors were found.” About ten homes are affected in La Calmette. Other villages should be contacted. “Given the large number of municipalities, this process will take many months”, explains Agathe Fievet, communications manager at Véolia Région Sud.
The municipality of Redessan was not informed of the nature of these checks carried out by Eau de Nîmes. “One or two municipal halls are also affected, even though the declarations had been made properly, sighs Mayor Fabienne Richard, who understands the residents' reaction: “A month before the start of the school year, that's a bit much!”
Since then, Natacha has reread her water bill in detail.”“Indeed, she admits, the sewer connection line was missing, but if you don't know it, it's hard to see. We never said we had a septic tank. We trusted it."
Lack of flexibility
"I read my bills crosswise too, admits the vice-president of water for Nîmes Métropole. This is not at all geared towards people." And the elected official reassured: "They can benefit from payment scaling." The Nîmes Métropole Water Consumer Service says it is "concerned and aware of the amount that this can represent. We are listening to subscribers in order to set up a payment schedule, which could go up to 10 months."
But there again, there is a catch. "We did have a seven-part payment schedule, says Natacha. But I have just received a new payment schedule, this time in four installments only, without explanation."
Christelle also deplores a lack of flexibility. "They offered me ten monthly payments but that is too little for us, complains Christelle, mother of two children, whose bill comes to 598 €. I told them that I would not pay more than 10 € per month, but they refused. They are offering me a payment schedule in fifteen installments maximum. And I was told that I should consider myself lucky that they don't date back to 2020!"
Other Redessan households (and other municipalities) could be affected in the future. "My neighbor, also a tenant, was not contacted but she was in the same situation as me, specifies Christelle. She called Eau de Nîmes, she is waiting for the bill. It's up to them, when they have time."
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