The challenge
The pandemic left many families unable to pay their water and gas bills.
The case
In May 2020, as the pandemic hit household incomes, Istanbul's metropolitan municipality launched Askıda Fatura ('suspended bill'), borrowing the tradition of paying forward a loaf of bread or a coffee for a stranger. Families who couldn't pay their bills could post them anonymously, and any resident could pay one online. It started with water and gas bills and later covered electricity too. By January 2022 more than 280,000 bills had been paid this way, worth 41 million lira. The project was one of 15 winners of Bloomberg Philanthropies' 2021 Global Mayors Challenge, chosen from 631 applicant cities, and won $1 million to spread the idea.
Why it worked
Using a familiar cultural practice made mutual aid easy, trusted and fast. It supplements rather than replaces formal welfare.
Sources
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