Real Estate Fraud: Opening the Water Meter

First: What are the steps for opening a water meter in Turkey?
Go to the branch of the water company located in the apartment area, which is responsible for opening the water meter and following up on its details.
Bring all the papers required to open the water meter, which are:
- A translated passport in addition to the original passport. If you are a resident of Turkey, you can use the Turkish residency instead.
- The lease contract in case the apartment is for rent, or the title deed for the apartment in the case of ownership.
- In addition to Insurance paper or what is known as DASIC.
- Meter number: This varies according to the apartment. If the apartment is new, there are two possibilities, either that the construction company puts a water meter for each apartment, and in this case you only need to read the number on the meter, but in some other projects, water meters are not considered among the services provided. Construction companies therefore need to buy a meter by paying the water fee, which is estimated at 247 Turkish liras at the time of writing the article. After paying these fees to the water company authorized to open the water clock, you will get the meter number and you can buy it from the authority responsible for selling the meters. The price of the water meter is about 92 TL, and its installation costs about 50 TL.
But if the apartment was previously inhabited, you can know the meter number through the previous water bills, which saves you the purchase and installation costs. It remains for the tenant or buyer to transfer the meter number to his name by following the previous steps and paying the water opening fees. Knowing that there is an installment service provided by water companies by distributing water fees amounting to 247 pounds on water bills for a period of six months.
How do I turn off the water clock?
As a result of various reasons, such as moving from one house to another, selling an apartment, or long travel, you may need to stop the water meter so that you do not accumulate bills and debts to the water company without benefiting from it. In order to be able to close the water clock, you must go to the branch of the Turkish water company and with an identification paper such as a passport or Turkish residence and tell the employee that you want to close the water clock. When the hour is closed, you can recover the fees you paid to open the counter in cash directly from the company.
Real estate fraud occurs in opening or closing the water clock for some when real estate companies undertake the transaction in exchange for a large sum paid by the buyer, while we note that the cost of all steps does not exceed $50.
Advice from Kamiran Company for Water Use in Turkey:
In order to use the water correctly and not be exposed to bills and fines, it is preferable to take advantage of the discount times, which are after twelve o’clock at night. You can operate appliances that consume water, such as a washing machine and dishwasher, during this period.
It is also preferable to use the dishwasher, which saves a large percentage of water compared to hand washing.
- It is important to note that the water provided by the state in the city of Istanbul is not suitable for drinking, but drinking water is purchased in a different way, but in other cities such as Trabzon, the water in the taps is used for drinking because it is less polluted.
The average water bill for a medium-sized apartment in Istanbul, inhabited by a family of four, is about 60-70 lira per month, which is equivalent to only 15-20 dollars.