Bi l l i ng and Col l ec t i on:

I ni t i at i ves by Bangal or e Wat er Suppl y and Sew er age

Boar d






























Rohit Nadkarni








Administrative Staff College of India
Bella Vista, Hyderabad 500 082, Andhra Pradesh, India

Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
ABSTRACT

The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) in order to improve its
billing and collection function of the water board has undertaken initiatives to
computerize all its sub-division as regards to generation of bills / accounting / revenue
monitoring including demand collection balance statement and connecting the sub-
division computers through a Local Area Network and connecting all the sub-division to
the central computer section in the head office through Wide Area Network. To improve
the collection efficiency, BWSSB has installed 74 Kiosks with Automated Cash Collection
Machines at important locations, to facilitate the public for remittance of the water bills
without having to wait in long queues since these machines are operating on a 24/7
basis. Apart from KOISK, which facilitate 85% of the payments, there are also other
services like Electronic Clearance Service (ECS), Bangalore-One and Bill Junction where
payments can be made. Due to this initiative, the whole billing and collection process
has become more efficient and effective, and has led to reduction in time taken for each
bill transaction. This document presents the process and experiences of the BWSSB in
implementing the new billing and collection system. It also present the lessons learnt
over the period of time through this initiatives and its replicability in other Indian cities.



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This documentation is a part of the good practices documentation process, undertaken
by the Urban Governance Area at Administrative Staff College of India. We are grateful
to Smt. G. Lata Krishna Rao, IAS, Chairman, BWSSB, for extending valuable support and
facilitating data collection, discussions with the key officials etc at BWSSB. We also
thankful to the following officials of BWSSB for their cooperation in data collection and
facilitating the discussions held at BWSSB. However, the usual disclaimer applies.
Shri. C. V. Prasad, ICAS, FA & CAO
Shri. T. Venkataraju, Chief Engineer, Maintenance
Shri. R. Vasudevan, Asst. Chief Engineer
Shri. G. M. Shivaraju, Executive Engineer, WAC
Shri. D.S. Raghavendra, Accounts Officer, Revenue
Shri. A. N. Prahlada Rao, PRO
Shri. B. G. Bhagavan, Accounts Superintendent, Revenue

Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Introduction
Bangalore, the Capital of Karnataka State and Industrial Center of Southern India has
witnessed rapid increase in population, particularly during the last five decades. In 1941,
Bangalore was ranked sixteenth largest city in India by virtue of its population.
Bangalore as per 2001 census, with a population of 62.24 lakhs, is the fifth largest city,
out of the Metropolises of India. Bangalore Urban Agglomeration alone accounts for
29.70% or one third of the total urban population in the state. With a decadal growth of
50.70% during 1991-2001 Bangalore has attained the status of third fastest growing
city in the country.

The Bangalore city population in phase with
the industrial and IT infrastructure
development has grown from 4.1 to 6.2
million, in the last decade, thereby
increasing the requirements for supply of
drinking water and sewage treatment and
disposal. To provide clean and safe water
to ever increasing population of this city is
gigantic task and this unenviable task
along with providing sewerage facilities to
the sprawling city was entrusted to the
Bangalore Water Supply & Sewerage Board
on 2
nd
October 1964. Since then the Board
has been striving hard to discharge its
duties satisfactorily, despite of several
constraints. There are five primary
functions of the Board (refer Annexure 1), among which the levy and collection of water
charges on no loss no profit basis is an important function, and this helps the board to
financially sustain the other primary functions.

Billing and Collection

Achieving financial sustainability in a water utility is currently an increasingly important
goal, as government and donor agencies are stressing on cost recovery. There are three
different types of costs typically associated with water supply: 1) Infrastructure costs
the cost of actually providing the infrastructure to run water upto and through
Indicator Status
P Pr re es se en nt t P Po op pu ul la at ti io on n a as s
o on n 2 20 00 06 6
6 6. .5 5 M Mi il ll li io on n
S Se er rv vi ic ce e A Ar re ea a 3 33 30 0 S SQ Q. . K KM M
P Pr re es se en nt t W Wa at te er r D De em ma an nd d 1 11 15 53 3 M ML LD D
P Pr re es se en nt t W Wa at te er r S Su up pp pl ly y 9 90 00 0 M ML LD D
P Pe er r C Ca ap pi it ta a S Su up pp pl ly y 9 90 0- -1 10 00 0 L Li it tr re es s
N No o. . o of f C Co on nn ne ec ct ti io on n a as s o on n
J Ju un ne e 2 20 00 07 7
5 52 20 05 54 46 6
% % o of f P Po op pu ul la at ti io on n c co ov ve er re ed d
b by y p pi ip pe ed d w wa at te er r s su up pp pl ly y
9 90 0% %
N No on n- -R Re ev ve en nu ue e W Wa at te er r 3 38 8% %
D De em ma an nd d C Co ol ll le ec ct ti io on n
E Ef ff fi ic ci ie en nc cy y ( (E Ex xc cl lu ud di in ng g
A Ar rr re ea ar rs s) )
A Ab bo ov ve e 9 90 0% %
( (C Cu ur rr re en nt t 9 95 5% % - -
2 20 00 06 6- -0 07 7) )
D De em ma an nd d C Co ol ll le ec ct ti io on n
E Ef ff fi ic ci ie en nc cy y ( (I In nc cl lu ud di in ng g
A Ar rr re ea ar rs s) )
A Ab bo ov ve e 6 60 0% %
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
neighbourhoods; 2) Connection costs the cost of connecting an individual household to
the system; and 3) Operation and maintenance (O&M) costs the cost of actually
operating and maintaining the system. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal
Mission reforms lays emphasis on recovering the Operation and maintenance cost in
water supply through user charges.
To recover the operation and maintenance cost, one requires an efficient system of
billing and collection, which ensure timely serving of demand notice and collection of
billed amount from customers, thereby enabling efficient cash recycling and cost
recovery. An effective and efficient billing and collection system should have the
following:
Metered water connection
An updated computerized database
Efficient meter reading and reporting system
Timely raising of bills for the water dues
Establishing clear cut time schedules between the raising of bills, serving it to the
consumers and payment by them
Make it easy for willing consumers to pay at convenient collection centers /
mediums
Accounting for daily collections and their remittances
Clear accounting of dues of consumers
Minimizing the cost of collection
Paying adequate attention to disputed cases and followup defaulters





The reform Initiative
In India, Bangalore is the only city where all the water supply connections were always
metered. BWSSB has five divisions and 20 sub-divisions and there are bout 5.2 lakh
serviced water connections. BWSSB has pioneered the adoption of latest technologies
including Information Technology over the last six years and completed many major
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
projects with significant IT content. Some of the reform initiatives taken up for
Improving the Billing and Collection system are given below:
Computerization of revenue billing records and computerized bills on a monthly
basis from July 2001 onwards
Development of new software for financial accounting. All maintenance sub-
divisions are computerized as regards to generations of Bills/ Accounting/
Revenue Monitoring etc. D.C.B Statements are also computerized and all the
offices have been networked.
Payment of Water Bill through unmanned KIOSK working 24 x 7 hours,
Electronic Clearance System, B-1 (Bangalore-One) and Bill Junction.
Water Adalat to settle the billing disputes

Situation Before the Initiative
Before July 2001, the BWSSB were practicing the manual revenue billing system, and a
lot of time was lost in processing and transferring the records value into books / bills.
The manual billing system mainly led to long standing queues at the cash counters and
consequently delay in collection.


Revenue Billing Process Before J uly 2001




Meter Reader goes to the
household level and gets
the meter reading
Meter Reading entered in
respective sub-divisions ledger
Pain points:
- Takes more time for
processing, transferring
and reflection of
recorded values into
ledger / bill books
- Manual billing is
laborious and end up in
errors
- The meter reader has to
make a second trip to
deliver the bill












The bills collected are entered in the ledger
books of the sub-divisions manually
All the revenue collection is manually
reflected and updated in the revenue
department of BWSSB
Ledger clerk checks the arrears,
bill amount is calculated and
manual written bill produced
Pain points:
- Errors in reporting
of meter reading
Bills delivered to customers by
the meter reader
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB






The manual process involved the meter reader to collect the meter reading, report the
meter reading to the respctive sub-division, entering the reading in respective ledger
books, checking of arrears, calculating the bill amount, preparartion of bills and
delivering to the consumers. If there were any errors in billing the consumer use to
report to the respective sub-division. The bill payment was also a time consuming
process both for the consumer as well as for the Board, it involved bill payment at
respective sub-division standing in long queues. It was equally time consuming to the
Board as the bill collection were manually updated in the ledger / bill books of the sub-
division.
Disadvantages of the System
Takes more time for processing, tranferring and reflection of recorded values into
ledger / bill books
Manual billing is laborious and ends up in errors
manual payment mode ends up in long standing queues at the cash counters and
hence delayed in collections

Introduction of Reform Initiative
Computerization of Revenue Billing Records
The BWSSB adopted the latest technology available and undertook computerization of it
revenue-billing system. This process was started with computerizing revenue records
and extending computerized revenue billing in the sub-divisions. The board took up this
initiative at a cost of Rs. 266.50 lakhs in 2000-2001 and procured computers, server,
generators, UPS & printers (out of the total cost Rs. 27.93 lakhs was spent towards
software installation data entry, training etc.). Upon completion of the computerization
process, the board started issuing computerized revenue bills from July 2001.




Bill checked and corrected
manually
Revenue Billing Process After J uly 2001
Meter Reader goes
to the consumer
and gets the
meter reading
Meter Reading entered in respective sub-
divisions computers
Consumer goes to the respective
subdivision cash counter and pays the
bill (the payment record is updated on
If error in billing the
consumer files a
complaint to the
respective sub-division
(Water Adalat)
Bill records
checked &
corrected in
The bills collected are
uploaded manually in sub-
divisions server & the revenue
working hour of the sub-division cash counter to pay
the bill
Pain points:
- Data to be sent to from all sub-
division to head office for updating
the revenue record and possibility of
errors while manually updating the
records

Pain points:
- Requires a lot of man power and also
possibility of error while manually
updating the ledger books
Computer calculates the bills, bill printed
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB





The computerization bought in efficiency in the billing and collection system. After the
meter reader get the meter reading, the meter reading was directly feed into the
computer in their respective subdivision. Each consumer was given a unique Revenue
Record Number (R.R Number) for reference, the computers were programmed to
calculate and generate the bill, based on the arrears and the tariff structure. The bills
were printed and were delivered to the consumer. In case of any errors in the bills the
consumer had to complain to respective sub-division Water Adalat and the bills were
checked and corrected against the computer database and decision was announced.
There were fifty-six cash counter (about 2-3 counters per sub-division), which were also
computerized, and the bill payments made at the counters were directly entered on the
computer and the receipt was generated / printed. The bill collection data from the cash
counters were later manually updated on to the sub-division and the revenue
department servers. In 2001-02 BWSSB also enabled a service for making payments
through internet (on line payment) for the benefit of the consumers.
Drawback of the system
Even after the computerization the consumers had to stand in long queues at the
cash counters for their bill payment and hence delayed collection
The bill collection data had to be manaully uploaded in the servers

Networking and Software Development
Networking
Prior to the reform initiative, BWSSB has six maintenance Divisions, twenty Sub-
divisions and fifty-six cash counters. After the computerization of the revenue billing
system, the errors in the billing record were minimized, but to keep the records up to
date the BWSSB has to manually upload the billing collection data in the sub-division
server and than the records were again manually uploaded in the revenue department
server of BWSSB.
In 2001, Studies on creating an on-line network, LAN-WAN, in BWSSB were taken up
and an Local Area Network within all the offices in Cauvery Bhavan and Wide Area
Network connecting Cauvery Bhavan with all Maintenance Divisions and Sub-Divisions
Meter reader delivers bill to the customer
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
was proposed. Subsequently the LAN and WAN was setup and all the divisions and sub-
divisions are now connected to Cauvery Bhavan (BWSSB Central Office) by leased lines
with ISDN lines as back up. This now facilitates transfers and real time update of data
pertaining to revenue billing and collection and making it accessible in Central Office to
all the officers at any point of time. The Network also facilitates electronic movement of
files, circulars and other data pertaining to office operations.
Software Development
The Setup of the LAN and WAN is only the hardware component, to run financial
accounting system and to be able to manage the revenue collection data on real time
basis required customized software for operation. The Development of new software for
financial accounting was entrusted to M/S National Informatics Center (A Government of
India Undertaking). The development of financial accounting package was completed
and was implemented on April 2005. This new software for financial accounting, helped
to monitor the entire revenue collection process and all the maintenance sub-divisions
were computerized as regards to generations of Bills, accounting and revenue
monitoring. This software generated a computerized Demand Collection Balance
statement and also helped to track down defaulter (the software also generates a list of
top 100 defaulter and allow any officer to check revenue records of any consumer).
Currently entire billing system is computerized and all the offices have been networked.


Payment of Water Bill

The current computerized Revenue Billing System generates a computer-generated bill
with a bar code. This bar code contains the billed amount and the Revenue Record
Number (R.R. Number) for identification, the bill payment can be made through
unmanned KIOSK working 24 x 7 hours, Electronic Clearance Service, B-1 (Bangalore-
One) or Bill Junction (Share of payments made through each mode is given below).

% Share of Payments Made Through Different Modes
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB

85%
3%
12%
Bill Payment Thorugh Koisk Electronic Clearance Service Bangalore One




Automated Machine KIOSK working 24 x 7 hours (Kaveri E-com)
The Bangalore Water Supply & Sewerage Board is running 24 x 7 hours Automated
Machines for bill payment (KIOSK). In the 1
st
phase (from march 2004 onwards) 50
KIOSK were installed, subsequently in the second phase (from march 2005 onwards)
another 25 KIOSk were setup. Currently there are 75 KOISK units running in Bangalore.
This KIOSK was supplied and maintained on a six years contract by M/S Tata
Consultancy Services (Formerly Tata Infotech Ltd.). The Automated payment kiosk can
receives water bill payment and generates receipt for cash, cheque and Demand Draft
(DD) payment made.

The Payment Process
The Automated Machines for bill payment allows consumers to pay their bills at any time
at various locations in the city. These machines are easy to use and work just like a
bank ATM by processing bill payment transactions. The Automated Machines Unit at the
KOISK comes with a bar code scanner to scan the bar coded bills, so no hassles of
entering the bill details. The touch screen guides a user through the payment process
and directs the consumer to make appropriate payment as per the billed amount, either
in cash, Cheque or DD. The automatic machine has different slot for cash payment and
Cheque and DD payment, the cash payment slot has a scanner that checks the currency
note while the payment is being made and than the machines prints a receipt verifying
the transaction.
The Automated Machines allow consumers to pay their bills conveniently without any
extra cost. The Automated machines give the user greater flexibility and control when
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
paying bills as well as increased security and privacy during the transaction process. The
cost per Automated Machine with a 6-year maintenance contract comes to approx. Rs.
5.75 lakhs. The total cost borne by BWSSB per transaction is about Rs. 2.5/-. The
Automated machine offers 24-hour service of safety, convenience and comfort. The
Automated machine is designed to allow total security, offers great flexibility as to its
installation area and operating hours. Cash counters having cash counter operators have
made way for Automated Machines, hence reduction in staff and cost saving. Like any
other ATMs, this automated machine requires only a security guard which here is
employed by BWSSB and trained to operate the machine if the consumer need any
support.


The Back-End Process
Currently this KOISK are stand-by units, the networking cost for getting the machine
networked with the sub-division and the main server is very high (One Lakh Rs. / Unit)
and hence are not networked. On a daily basis, one personnel of the Bank and the
personnel from BWSSB (The KOISK location are distributed as per Sub-division and the
respective BWSSB sub-division personnel are responsible for accompanying the bank
personnel), visits the KOISK. Upon a command prompt the Automated Machine
generates a Day-End report, which is taken on a pen-drive by the BWWSB official, the
bank personnel counts the currency and collects the Cheque and Demand Draft and a
report is prepared and signed by both the personnel. Further the BWSSB sub-division
personnel takes the Day-End report to the respective sub-divisions and upload it. If the
bill payments made at the kiosk belong to the same sub-division it is automatically
uploaded in the sub-division server. Bill payments of other sub-division are automatically
transferred to the central BWWSB server and from there it is automatically updated in
the respective sub-division server.

The Automated Machine in the
KOISK
The BWSSB KOISK






Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Touch
Screen
Cheque /
Demand
Draft
Slot
Cash
Deposit
Slot
Bar Code
Reader
Receipt
Slot
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB










Advantage
Any time payment (24/7)
No more standing in long queues
Substantial reduction in processing time
Drawback of the System
The KIOSKs are not networked, hence time is lost in collecting the data from the
Automatic Machine and uploading it in the Sub-division servers
There were some instances of fake currency being feed in the automatic machine
Since the Machines are not network, there is always a threat of losing all the data
and record of bill payment in the automatic machine if the hard disk in the
machine crashes. There have been such instances in the past. (This problem can
be overcome by networking the machine or installing a secondary back-up Hard
Disk in the machines).
The company who supplied the machine quoted low and now they are facing
problem in maintaining the machine (The Machine has a lots of moving part,
which are worn-out over a period of use and need replacement)

ECS (Electronic Clearing Service)
BWSSB has also initiated a new Electronic Clearance Service for payment of water bills.
As on June 2007, BWSSB has about 14,873 consumers using this service. To avail this
service the consumer has to fill a mandate form (refer Annexure 2) mandating to pay
the monthly water bills through the bank account. This form has to be duly signed by
the banker. The Consumers can avail this service from any bank in Bangalore. In this
system BWSSB sends the monthly bill to the Reverse Bank of India (RBI) to recover the
billed amount electronically from the respective consumer bank account. The bank will
electronically debit the bill amount only on the Pay-by-date, and the payment is
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
reflected in the pass book entry of the customer as a proof of payment and the customer
will also continue to get bills as usual, for the information / records. To reduce errors in
billing, BWSSB checks the bill amount for all the consumer billed above Rs 2000/-,
before sending the data to RBI. RBI levies a service charge of Rs. two per transaction
made under this service, which is borne by BWSSB. The very few numbers of consumer
availing the service, show that the people of Bangalore are still not comfortable giving
mandate to BWSSB to make payment through its bank account (there may be a element
of doubt of being billed extra and deducting the bill amount from the bank without their
consent).

Advantage of the service
No extra cost payable to either the bank or to BWSSB
No traveling to the Kiosk
No risk in carrying money
No standing in long queues
No debiting of money from the bank before pay-by-date. Thus allowing time for
any clarification one may required
Drawbacks in the ECS system
Cases reported by RBI -rejected payment due to insufficient balance

B-1 (Bangalore-One) Service
The Government of Karnataka (GoK) is providing an integrated service to the citizens
deploying the tools of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) so as to
enhance Speed, Convenience, Certainty and Accountability in providing such services
through the concept of a 'One-Stop-Shop' facility. Accordingly, GoK have implemented
an e-Governance project called the Bangalore One or B1 Project (A computerized online
payment / service KOISK) on the lines of similar projects implemented elsewhere in
India (Like E-Seva in Andhra Pradesh). On a total there are about 16 B-1 centers in
Bangalore.
The BWSSB consumer can visit any of the centers get the water bill details as well as
pay the bills. The consumer can make the bill payment through cash, cheque or Demand
Draft at these centres. This service is directly connected to the BWSSB server and can
retrieve the statement of accounts data for the past six months excluding the current
month, for a particular account identified by the RR number. The bills payment made at
the Bangalore-One is directly updated in the BWSSB server. This service is similar to the
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
BWSSB cash counters, apart from bill payment one can avail other BWSSB service as
well as other services provided by other Government department at the center. The
customer can also make online payments through the Bangalore-One portal service
(www.bangaloreone.gov.in), where the payments are done through credit cards. Upon
payments through Bangalore-One, a receipt will be generated for each of such
successful transactions specifying the unique Transaction ID of Bangalore-One and other
bill details. During the month of May 2007, there were about 61,204 transaction made
through the Bangalore-One service.


Advantage of the service
No extra cost payable to Bangalore-One or to BWSSB
No standing in long queues, one can make payment on-line
Drawbacks in the ECS system
Cases reported of Cheque payment being dishonored

Bill Junction
Tech Process Solutions Ltd. (formerly known as Bill Junction Payments Ltd.) network
companies of ICICI venture is an electronic bill presentment & payment company. Tech
Process offers online bill payment through its electronic service product Bill Junction. Bill
Junction is a dedicated service for single point contact for all bill payment needs. Bill
Junction also provides the Bangalore consumer with service of making its BWSSB bill
payment thought its service. Bill Junction charge a one-time registration fee of Rs. 50/-
and provide bill pay packages at a service charge, the service charge per bill is approx.
Rs. 11/- per transaction which is quite high compared to the other services. The bill
Junction makes payment through the electronic transfer through the bank account of the
customer. The current number of BWSSB Consumer availing the service is negligible.
Bill Junction moves bills from the desk to the desktop and ensures that one can pay your
bills in minutes instead of hours. The Bill Junctions has a tie up with BWSSB, where all
the data relating to bill amount is supplied to them. Once the consumer sign into Bill
Junction he can view the entire bill details and make advice for payment of bills. The Bill
junction also sends e-mail and SMS reminders to costumer, informing them about the
due bill, and hence enables timely payment. After bill payment, Bill Junction provides
BWSSB with data / records of payment made (the format for data provision is provided
by BWSSB) and the billed amount. The BWSSB further uploads this data on its server.
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
Advantages of Bill Junction
No traveling to the Kiosk
No risk in carrying money
No standing in long queues
Bill Junction keeps the customer Informed about of the bills and act as per
customer advice
Drawback of the system
High Transaction cost
The BWSSB server are not directly accessible to Bill Junction, hence data has to be
manually transferred
The Current Billing Collection Scenario
Summary of the Current Revenue Billing System

Current Revenue Billing Process


Meter Reader goes
to the consumer
and gets the meter
reading
Meter Reading entered in respective
sub-divisions computers, the computer
calculates the bills, bill is printed and
delivered to the customer
If error in billing the
consumer files a
complaint to the
respective sub-division
(Water Adalat)
Bill records checked &
corrected in the computer

Consumer Has Four Payment Options Available
Automated
Machine KOISK
Electronic Clearing
Service
Bangalore-One Bill junction
Consumer visits
the KOISK and
Makes payment
and receives a
receipt of
transaction
(Security
personnel
Available to guide
in making
payments)
Consumer
Mandates BWSSB
to recover
payment through
RBI from his Bank
Account.
(Payments made
is reflected in the
Bank Pass Book)
Consumer visits
the Bangalore-One
centers or makes
payment On-line
through its portal
and receives a
receipt of
transaction
Bill J unction had
tie-up with
BWSSB.
Consumer
Mandates Bill
J unction to make
payments on his
behalf to BWSSB.
(Bill J unction
provides receipt of
payment)
The Bill Payment
records are
collected manually
from the KOISK
and then uploaded
in the respective
sub-division
servers and is
automatically
uploaded in the
Upon receipt of
payments from
RBI the records
are automatically
uploaded in the
main and the sub-
division servers
The Bangalore-
One server is
directly connected
to the main
BWSSB server so
payments are
directly
automatically
uploaded in the
main server and
Bill J unction
manually supplies
data of Payments
to BWSSB. The
data is manually
uploaded at
BWSSB Main
server and further
automatically
u
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
ploaded in the
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
Water Adalat
Water Adalats are grievance redress meetings started by BWSSB in 2001. These Water
Adalats are convened once a month on a designated day at the Sub-Divisional office and
chaired by the concerned Executive Engineer. There are 20 Sub-Divisional offices, hence
in a month there are 20 water Adalats. Details of Adalats are announced in the BWSSB
website and in the newspapers. This Adalats are used to resolve disputes related to
billing or any other disputes related to water supply and Under Ground Drainage, non
receipt of bill, irregular meter reading etc. If the consumer is not satisfied with the
decision of Assistant Engineer, Executive Engineer or Water Adalat particularly relating
to billing disputes, the consumer can lodge a written complaint with the Chief Engineer
(Maintenance), Appeals Committee at Cauvry Bhavan, (Head office of BWSSB)
Bangalore

Revenue collection
Water as a resource might be a free good, but supplying safe water at the doorstep has
a cost and one of the main functions of the board is to levy and collection of water
charges on No loss profit basis (In other word recover the cost incurred in supplying
this water at the doorsteps). The water tariff and sanitation charges are the main source
of revenue for BWSSB, to sustain the organisation and to perform its other functions
(refer annexure 1 for other function). BWSSB is the only water board in India, which
recovers more than 90% of the revenue expenditure and has current demand collection
efficiency more 90% (if one excludes the arrears component).

Demand Collection Efficiency of BWSSB over seven-year period.
The current demand collection efficiency is above 90% (excluding arrears), and this is
reflected through the past seven years data available on demand collection at BWSSB.
After the implementation of the 1
st
phase of the Automated Machine KOISK in march
2004, the current demand collection efficiency has substantially increased to 98.21%
2004-05 (refer table below). Even after the current demand collection being so high the
to total demand collection efficiency including the arrears is as low as 60%, this is
mainly due to the arrears amount which are due the non payments from stand post unit.
Every year with the interest rate of 20%, this amount keep on accumulating and leading
to very low total demand collection efficiency.


Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB

Collection Efficiency of BWSSB
Year Total Demand
Collection Efficiency
in % (I ncluding
Arrears)
Current Demand
Collection Efficiency
in % (Excluding
Arrears)
I nitiative taken
1999-00 60.90 89.46 Before the Initiative
2000-01 64.60 97.78 Computerization of ledger initiated
2001-02 61.80 91.35 Water Adalat started and J uly 2001
issue of computerized billing
2002-03 62.82 91.83 On-line payment facility started
2003-04 59.22 90.60
2004-05 63.59 98.21 All Sub-division computerized and
networked, Implementation of 1
st

phase of KOISK, Electronic Clearance
Service (ECS) for bill payments by
BWSSB
2005-06 60.35 94.46 Implementation of the new financial
package. Payment of bill can be made
from Bangalore-One, Bill J unction
2006-07 NA 95.28
Source: Calculated using the data from Annual Performance Reports

BWSSB Revenue and Expenditure
BWSSB is currently recovering more than 110% of the revenue expenditure and is
always in surplus, the table below reflects this. In the table below, the revenue receipt
includes water revenue, prorata charges, non-recurring revenue and miscellaneous
revenue colleted in divisions, while the expenditure includes treatment of water
(establishment, power charges and repairs & maintenance) and distribution of water
sewerage management (establishment, power charges, repairs & maintenance, Cost of
general administration and depreciation). If the revenue expenditure component given
below is treated as the operation and maintenance cost, than BWSSB is recovering more
than 110% of the expenditure, which is a healthy sign for an organisation
Annual Revenue Expenditure Recovered Over Past 6 Years
Revenue Account (Rs. in Lakhs)
Year Revenue Receipt
Revenue
Expenditure
(-) Deficit, (+)
Surplus
% of Expenditure
Recovered
2000-01 29,677.75 26,832.46 2,845.29 110.60
2001-02 25,866.60 22,758.06 3,108.54 113.66
2002-03 36,869.83 25,739.38 11,130.45 143.24
2003-04 42,016.81 30,341.80 11,675.01 138.48
2004-05 37,683.05 32,635.87 5,047.18 115.47
2005-06 42,546.35 34,135.51 8,410.84 124.64
Source: Annual Performance Reports
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
As per the annual financial statement (Budget) publish in the Annual Performance
Report; BWSSB was in deficits in their revenue receipts & expenditure statement. Till
2005-06 according to the statement, BWSSB was recovering more than 95% of its
expenditure and in the last annual report publish in the year 5005-06; BWSSB is in
surplus (refer table below). In the table given below, the revenue receipt head includes
water supply receipts (Water supply & sewerage, Misc. receipts from consumers, other
receipts), sewerage receipts and general receipts (general receipts, Less capitalized
Prorata 50%) and the Revenue expenditure includes (water supply & sewerage
operation & maintenance, Debt servicing, depreciation reserves, general administration)
and investments (GIS fund, Sinking fund for redemption of debenture and depreciation
reserves). Currently the BWSSB revenue account is in surplus and is recovering more
than 100% of its expenditure incurred in operation and maintenance including
depreciation and dept servicing. BWSSB is one of the best financially performing water
Board in India. BWSSB always had a high collection efficiency and recovery in the
previous years even before they introduced the reform initiatives, this is mainly because
Bangalore was the only city in India, which were metering water supply right from the
early days of supplying water to the city.
Annual Revenue Expenditure Recovered over past 6 years
Revenue Receipts and Expenditure Account (Rs. in Lakhs)
Year Revenue Receipt Revenue Expenditure
(-) Deficit, (+)
Surplus
% of Expenditure
Recovered
2000-01 29,815.78 30,030.32 -214.54 99.29
2001-02 26,775.12 28,213.59 -1,438.47 94.90
2002-03 36,869.83 37,383.71 -513.88 98.63
2003-04 43,210.38 43,479.06 -268.68 99.38
2004-05 38,509.87 38,676.45 -166.58 99.57
2005-06 42,147.00 41,498.27 648.73 101.56
Source: Annual Performance Reports

BWSSB Website
The success of reform initiative depended on the communication strategy adopted.
BWSSB has setup an official website for its consumer for timely dissemination of
information and for making consumer aware of its reform initiative. The website gives
timely information to the consumer about the reform initiative, the payment option
available and the user charges. The website also allow consumer to file on-line complain
about the services.


Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
Other Initiative Proposed to Strengthen the Collection Process
Meter reading with Hand Held Computer and issue of Bill at the spot
At present, the Meter Readers are taking the meter reading and recording the readings
in the cards manually. The computerized bills are being prepared in the concerned sub-
Divisions and issued to the consumers personally by the Meter Readers. In order to
avoid delay and prevent the errors in recording the readings, recently spot billing with
hand held computers was used in one sub-divisional area on a trial basis. This system
has following advantages:
Meter Reader need not make two trips as being done now once for reading and again for
delivering bill, one visit is enough. Transfer of data i.e., meter reading feed into Sub-
Division server manually by ledger clerks. These results in human errors, with hand held
computers uploading of data from hand held computer to Sub-Division PC happens by
plugging in, hence errors are avoided. Implementation of this initiative will increase the
accuracy of meter reading and efficiency of the meter reader.





Lessons learnt and Replicability

The major cause for lack of financial performance by any water utility / Board of any city
in India is that the water supply connection are never metered, and if you cannot count,
you cannot account. Bangalore is one of the few utility to have metered connection from
the very start, because of this Bangalore citizens knew right from day one of getting the
water supply connection, that every drop used is going to be accounted in their monthly
bills. Over the period of time Bangalore citizens has understood the fact that water
supply at ones door step is not free, and majority of the consumers were paying their
bills on time. So BWSSB decided to undertake reforms initiatives to improve the billing
and collection system, reducing the transaction cost and making the payment process
more customer friendly and convenient. For BWSSB reducing costs and time spent was a
step-by-step process, adding new technology was really the final step. BWSSB reform
initiatives in billing and collection till date have increased the efficiency of the institution
(in terms of time spent and collection achieved).
The BWSSBs own reforms initiative for improving the collection, like the KIOSK model,
the electronic clearance service (ECS) are working very efficiently and there is still a
possibilities for further improving the system, BWSSB is looking into this aspects (like
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
networking the KOISK and making the ECS system more popular). The level of service
and the confidence level of the consumers, have also benefit the Board as many
consumers make advance payments for water supply to BWSSB (the advance is
adjusted as per the billed amount). The billing collection system adopted by BWSSB can
be easily replicated in other cities across India, which are already metering their water
supply connections. The Automated Machine KOISK system can either be operated by
Board / Utility or can be Outsourced to already exiting KOISK like BESCOM KOISK in
Bangalore (For Outsourcing to BESCOM the Transaction cost offer to BWSSB was almost
doubled the current cost incurred by BWSSB KOISK). Other Utilities in India can follow a
similar step-by-step approach followed by BWSSB in billing & collection system and can
adopt or customize the system based on local needs. If the current water supply system
of any cities need to be sustained, the water utility / board has to recover at least
operation and the maintenance cost incurred in supplying the water at the doorstep and
recovery will directly depends on an effective and efficient billing and collection system.



Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB

Bibliography

BWSSB Reports

BWSSB, (2003), Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board: Handbook of Statistics
1999-00,2001-01,2001-02,2002-03. Cauvery Bhavan, Bangalore.

BWSSB, (2001), Annual Performance Report 2000-2001: Bangalore Water Supply and
Sewerage Board, Cauvery Bhavan, Bangalore.

BWSSB, (2002), Annual Performance Report 2001-2002: Bangalore Water Supply and
Sewerage Board, Cauvery Bhavan, Bangalore.

BWSSB, (2005), Annual Performance Report 2004-2005: Bangalore Water Supply and
Sewerage Board, Cauvery Bhavan, Bangalore.

BWSSB, (2006), Annual Performance Report 2005-2006: Bangalore Water Supply and
Sewerage Board, Cauvery Bhavan, Bangalore.


Internet Resources

AUSAID, (2000), Bangalore Water Supply And Environmental Sanitation Masterplan
Project, Australia-India Development Co-operation Programme, Accessed from:
http://www.developmentgateway.com.au/bangalore/htm/master.htm

BWSSB, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board official website, Accessed from:
http://www.bwssb.org

JnNURM, (2006), City Development Plan Bangalore, Accessed from:
www.bmponline.org/Bruhat%20Bangalore/cdp.shtml

JnNURM, Memorandum of Agreement Urban Reform Agenda, Accessed from:
www.Jnnurm.nic.in

Government of Karnataka, Bangalore-One, Accessed from:
http://www.bangaloreone.gov.in/

Teach Process Solutions Ltd., Bill Junction, Accessed from: http://www.billjunction.com

Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
Annexure 1

Functions of the Board
The primary functions of the Board are:
1. Providing Water supply and making arrangements for the sewerage and disposal
of sewerage in the existing and developing regions of Bangalore Metropolitan
Area.
2. Investigating adequacy of water supply for domestic purpose in Bangalore
Metropolitan area.
3. Preparation and implementation of plans and schemes for supply of water for
domestics purpose within Bangalore Metropolitan area to the required standards.
4. Preparation and implementation of plans and schemes for proper sewerage and
disposal of sewerage of the Bangalore Metropolitan area.
5. Levy and collection of water charges on no loss no profit basis.













Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
Annexure 2
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
Annexure 3
Total Number of Water Connections
S.
No. Year
Total Number of
Connections at the end
of the year
Percentage Increase in
the number of
connections per year
1 1989-90 215140 4.5
2 1990-91 223817 4.0
3 1991-92 230907 3.2
4 1992-93 237212 2.7
5 1993-94 243491 2.6
6 1994-95 250326 2.7
7 1995-96 254865 1.8
8 1996-97 262639 3.0
9 1997-98 274655 4.4
10 1998-99 285883 3.9
11 1999-00 307416 7.0
12 2001-02 322448 4.7
13 2001-02 334805 3.7
14 2002-03 351161 4.7
15 2003-04 372002 5.9
16 2004-05 415652 11.7
17 2005-06 448802 8.0
18 2006-07 520546 16.0
Source: Annual Performance Reports (Note: The Annual data given above from 2003-04 onwards is
the number of connection as on month of J uly)
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Billing and Collection: An Initiative by BWSSB
Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
Annexure 4
DCB Statement and Collection Efficiency
1999-2000 Rs. I n Lakhs
Opening
Balance Demand Total Collection Write Off
Closing
Balance
% Total
Collection
% Current
Demand
Collection
9,774.18 20,843.74 30,617.92 18,646.19 762.72 11,971.73 60.90 89.46

2000-2001 Rs. I n Lakhs
Opening
Balance Demand Total Collection Write Off
Closing
Balance
% Total
Collection
% Current
Demand
Collection
11,041.18 21,493.00 32,534.18 21,016.59 525.53 10,992.06 64.60 97.78

2001-2002 Rs. I n Lakhs
Opening
Balance Demand Total Collection Write Off
Closing
Balance
% Total
Collection
% Current
Demand
Collection
10,990.03 22,989.05 33,979.08 20,999.52 200.84 12,778.72 61.80 91.35

2002-2003 Rs. I n Lakhs
Opening
Balance Demand Total Collection Write Off
Closing
Balance
% Total
Collection
% Current
Demand
Collection
13,220.28 29,653.86 42,874.14 26,934.73 405.97 15,533.45 62.82 90.83

2003-2004 Rs. I n Lakhs
Opening
Balance Demand Total Collection Write Off
Closing
Balance
% Total
Collection
% Current
Demand
Collection
17,290.93 32,628.89 49,919.83 29,561.27 167.10 20,191.46 59.22 90.60

2004-2005 Rs. I n Lakhs
Opening
Balance Demand Total Collection Write Off
Closing
Balance
% Total
Collection
% Current
Demand
Collection
17,940.46 32,957.68 50,898.14 32,366.27 41,692.43 -23,160.56 63.59 98.21

2005-2006 Rs. I n Lakhs
Opening
Balance Demand Total Collection Write Off
Closing
Balance
% Total
Collection
% Current
Demand
Collection
20,432.05 36,149.52 56,581.58 34,146.25 368.31 22,067.02 60.35 94.46

2006-2007 Rs. I n Lakhs
Opening
Balance Demand Total Collection Write Off
Closing
Balance
% Total
Collection
% Current
Demand
Collection
270,349.97 41,651.71 311,696.67 39,683.90 305.01 271,707.76 12.73 95.28
Source: Annual Performance Reports, Revenue Account Department of BWSSB