Delhiites preparing to get relief from wrong water bills, DJB is going to change the meter system; Know the new plan
Consumers are expected to get relief regarding the water billing system in Delhi. Amid long standing complaints of wrong readings and incorrect bills, steps are now being taken towards improvement. Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has started the process of updating and digitalizing the entire water billing system of the capital. Under this, there is a plan to replace old and technically weak meters and install modern smart water meters. These new meters are expected to provide real-time and more accurate readings of water consumption, which will reduce the problem of manual errors and wrong billing.
New panel of meter manufacturers will be formed
According to officials, the process of preparing a new panel of water meter manufacturing companies has been started for this. According to the information, the last time such a panel was made in 2018. Now after about 8 years, in view of the changes in technology, applications have been invited from companies to include meters with new and advanced technology. Officials say the initiative is aimed at inducting better quality smart meters, making water consumption readings more accurate and reducing billing issues.
Emphasis on accurate billing
The official said that there are about 29.90 lakh water metered connections across Delhi, which play an important role in the revenue collection of the Jal Board. Therefore, it has become very important to review the metering system from time to time and incorporate new technology. According to officials, many complaints of wrong billing are continuously being reported due to faulty meters, old technology and human negligence in readings. The system is being upgraded to overcome these problems.
Currently, for consumers who require 15 mm diameter meters, the Jal Board’s panel includes 10 models from 9 manufacturers. Now under the new process this panel is being expanded and technically upgraded, so that smarter and more accurate metering system can be implemented. Officials said that when a consumer takes a new water connection or gets the old meter replaced, he first has to deposit the security amount of the meter with the Water Board. After this the Board installs the respective recognized meters. This process is adopted so that transparency is maintained in the metering system and the consumer can get billing based on the correct reading.
Digital database of connections will be created
Recently, Water Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh had announced to prepare a digital database of all water connections, so that transparency can be brought in the billing process and the problem of wrong bills can be reduced. In this sequence, an official of the Water Board said that now it will be mandatory for the meter manufacturing companies to implement all the technical changes and standards suggested by the Board. Along with this, companies will also have to submit detailed information of all their meter models and samples of each model.
Only after examining these samples and technical details will the companies be shortlisted and included in the panel. Officials say the purpose of this process is to include only higher quality and more accurate meters in the system, so that billing complaints are reduced in future and consumers get bills based on correct readings.
Step towards smart metering
According to officials, earlier also in 2022, an initiative was taken to implement “Smart Water Meter”, through which there was a plan to provide facilities to consumers like registering app-based complaints and new connections. However, that plan could not be implemented effectively in the entire city and remained limited in scope. Now the Water Board is once again preparing to implement this system afresh. Under this, meter manufacturing companies will be shortlisted again and their meter models will be technically examined.
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