The National Water Commission (NWC) is the latest utility entity to come under scrutiny for its billing system, as a single woman has received a bill for more than $1.9 million.

The woman, a resident of Stony Hill, St Andrew, was slapped with a $1,957,993.48 bill, which was due last Wednesday.

"They want people to have a heart attack," the woman said yesterday.

"How can they send out something like that to people," she asked.

Charles Buchanan, corporate public relations manager at NWC, told The Gleaner that an investigation would be conducted into the matter to ascertain what caused the apparent error.

"If a bill is too high or low, then the account is flagged. Someone manually checks these flags. Sometimes, a person will revisit the location. It appears that system did not serve to do that," said Buchanan.

The woman is, however, frustrated as this is possibly her second erroneous bill from the commission.

Moving from $600

Last month, she was billed $3,265.87, which was not in accord with a usual monthly charge of approximately $600.

"I live in a one-bedroom apartment. I don't wash there, I don't even cook there, I only bathe there," she said.

The woman said in the past month she has visited an NWC office four times, reporting the matter.

Last week, the Jamaica Public Service Company issued a bill for more than $400,000 to another single woman. The light and power company is also being criticised over its billing system after issuing bills outside of a 31-day cycle.