The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has revised its billing system under this, the water consumption bills issued to city residents should not exceed more than one-and-a-half times the amount of the bill in the previous month.
In an official statement, DJB minister Satyendar Jain said, “The DJB has updated its billing system today. Now your bill cannot be more than 1.5 times the previous month. If it exceeds this, an explanation will be provided to the customer, and he or she may file a complaint. The board will be accountable and responsible for any errors". The move will strengthen the revenue management system of the board, he added.
According to the minister, there will be an automatic system check to stop billing from the meter readers tablet if consumption variance is more than 50% higher or lower in comparison to the previous bill.
"In such a case, the bill will only be generated by the Zonal Revenue Office, if the meter reading image confirms the consumption. This step will curb the erroneous reading bills that were being generated," the statement said.
There will be a random metre reading image audit by the revenue officers to keep a check on the water billing system. In case of improper images of the metre reading, metre inspectors will visit the site and recheck the images and make sure the images are taken properly by the metre readers, The incorrect image feeding will also call for strict action against the metre readers concerned.
At present, there are about 900 metre readers taking readings of about 26.50 lakh consumers in 41 zones of Delhi Jal Board. Out of these consumers, about 18 lakh consumers avail zero bills under free water scheme.
Rotation system for the metre reader will also help in making the billing system "stronger and transparent". This will be considered as a huge step in avoiding any discrepancy or loopholes in the system. In this system, metre readers will be changed in every billing cycle. This will lead to smooth functioning of the system and will eradicate any type of corruption involved, the minister said.
