Vice Chairperson Delhi Jal Board Shri Raghav Chadha conducts a surprise inspection at NE-1 GTB Enclave Zonal Revenue Office on account of high billing issues in the area and in adjoining areas like Seemapuri, Sundar Nagri after receiving complaints from Public.The Vice Chairperson also spoke about the complaints he has read on Delhi Jal Board’s Twitter handle regarding erroneous bills.
“It has come to my notice that in the last few billing rounds during COVID-19, the bills are being generated based on incorrect water meter readings. Algorithmic trends of all such bills have to be checked by the officers so that consumers can avail 20kl scheme benefit. This incorrect billing has an adverse impact on DJB’s billing mechanism. It is absolutely essential for everyone present here to understand that all information fed on the tablets regarding water meters must be correct. The person who reads the water meter is an important bridge between the government and the people we are here to serve,” Shri Raghav Chadha said
“I spoke to all the consumers who were at the Zonal Office to better understand their grievances and concerns and how DJB can find a quick solution for them. In addition, I went through each of those bills in the Revenue Management System and instructed the ZRO and Jt. Director Revenue to revisit all the houses in the area, properly check the meter readings themselves and sort out all the billing related grievances within one week.If the bills are not sorted in a weeks time, the ZRO will be suspended,” said Shri Chadha.
Shri Chadha was stern about the significance of every water meter reader physically reading the meter at a consumer’s home. DJB has over 1,000 meter readers.
“Here is where the ZRO and Jt. Director needs to jump into action. They have to ensure that every meter reader is sensitised about the need and importance of being physically present on site as they are the one point contact of DJB’s image building. They must conduct themselves with utmost professionalism,”he said.
Shri Chadha was strict about bill generation, wherein he said that water bills generated on average will not be tolerated. “Along with Delhi government’s promise to provide its residents 24*7 water, it is the equal responsibility of Delhi Jal Board to provide our more than 25 lakh consumers accurate bills so that they have no complaints whatsoever with DJB. This kind of corruption will not be tolerated at any Zone of DJB,” he said.
*WHAT AVERAGE BILL MEANS*
As per Delhi Jal Board’s policy, if the meter read status is other than “OK”, then that particular read is considered as an average read, and subsequently, the bill will be generated on average basis.
There are many instances when an average bill is generated for a Delhi Jal Board consumer; for instance, when the meter is locked, or if the consumer is not at home at the time the water bill is being generated, etc. Only in such special cases, does DJB allow an average bill to be generated.
*MAXIMISING USE OF TABLETS*
Shri Chadha also directed all the 41 ZROs to maximise the use of the already-provided Android-based tablets. “There must be 100% use of tablets for bill generation in order to maximise transparency in DJB’s billing system.”
Delhi Jal Board is among the few organisations where bill generation and payment is done instantly via Android-based tablets. These tablets capture the image of the water meter, along with the latitude and longitude. The reading, when fed, calculates the bill based on the consumption, following which, the bill is handed over to the consumer.
(EW correspondent)
