Water companies in England and Wales have been told they will not be allowed to impose the hikes to bills they have demanded, the industry regulator has said in an interim verdict on their business plans for the next five years.
Ofwat declared that it was minded to slash, by a third, the combined increases that the 16 companies had submitted.
It left the average bill, the watchdog said, set to rise by £19 a year or 21% over the period.
Ofwat chief executive David Black said: “Customers want to see radical change in the way water companies care for the environment.
“Our draft decisions on company plans approve a tripling of investment (to £88bn) to make sustained improvement to customer service and the environment at a fair price for customers.
A final ruling will be made in December.
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