COMPUTERIZED WATER BILLING SYSTEM

COMPUTERIZED WATER BILLING SYSTEM
Amaravati water supply scheme is the only urban water supply scheme in Maharashtra which has been getting the facility of computerized water billing system continuously since 1991. The operating of the system has been outsourced. The software development has not been in a year or two, but it has been in process years together and proudly contributed by generously from meter readers, counter clerks, fitters, plumbers, clerical staff in the office, and auditors and accountants, to the higher officers, engineers at all levels, and most of consumers of the scheme. It has become most intelligent software in the country and now it is not only utility software but it is management software. It is in use in number of cities in Vidarbha and has to share the experience of managing more than 800000 consumers in the Delhi, the Capital city of the Country, since 1995. Following script has been included in the Maintenance Manual for urban areas.

Water Billing and Revenue Management System is the most important Aspect of any Water Supply Scheme as it governs the financial aspect, which is the most important factor. The base of Water Billing System can be any one or more of the following:-
A. Metered System
1. Actual Consumption of Water
2. Minimum Fixed Charge
B. Non-Metered System
1. Fixed Charge Per Month
2. Fixed Charge Per Family
3. Fixed Charge Per Tap
4. Percentage of Annual Letting Value of Property
The various stages in the Water Billing Process are:-
1. Data Gathering (Meter Reading in case of Metered Billing)
2. Generation of Bill based on this Data
3. Distribution of Bill to Consumer
4. Payment of the Bill by the Consumer
5. Sending the receipt details to Billing Section
6. Related Accounting
Irrespective of the basis of the Billing Metered/Unmetered, the Computerized Billing System needs Three major databases:-
1. Master Data – This is the data, which needs to be entered only one time when the Consumer/Connection is added into the database. This data is relatively static in nature and does not change time to time. Various data required to be stored are:-
Consumer Number, Name of Consumer, Address, Type of Use, Type of Consumer, Tap Size, Date of Connection, Details of Feeder Line, Locality, House No., Ward No., No. of taps, No. of Families, Meter Make, Meter Number, First Reading, Ownership of Meter, Deposit Amount etc.

2. Data for each Billing Round – This data will be entered for every consumer for every round and will be used for calculating the demand of that billing round. Various data items required to be stored are :–
Consumer Number, Date of Meter Reading/Period for which Billed, Status of the Connection and any changes in Master Data etc.
3. Receipt Data – This data will be the data related to the payments made by the consumers against the bill issued. This data will be entered on daily basis irrespective of the billing frequency. Various data required to be stored are:-
Consumer Number, Date of Receipt, Receipt Number, Details of the collection Centre, Cash/Cheque (If Cheque- Cheque No., Bank, Branch) Part Payment/Adhoc Payment/Deposit, Account Head for posting etc.
BILLING PROCESS:
A. Data Gathering: - For better administrative control over the complete billing process the City/Town is divided into various Zone/Sections geographically or as per the distribution network ESR wise. It is observed that the Cities already have ward numbers or localities which can be used as they are but if the billing is as per the distribution network the billing system can provide very important feed back as far as Water/Revenue losses are concerned (Water Unaccounted for).
These zones are further divided into smaller areas (Wards) for better control. The Person responsible for gathering data from these is the Meter Reader/Ward Clerk. In case of Metered System the suggested Number of Consumers which can be handled by one Meter Reader may vary from 1000 to 1500 Consumers per month depending on the geographical spread of the area and other office jobs to be performed by the person. In case of unmetered System the Number can be doubled.
The prime responsibility of this person will be,
1. to gather all the data related to the water connections in given area,
2. to collect all the data related to New Connections/Disconnection
3. to point out any change in the Master data of these connections.
This person will also be responsible for communicating this data, in given formats to the Billing Section.
B. Generation of Bills:
The Water Rates/Tariff structure may have one or more aspects from the following – Consumption Based, Flat Rate, Minimum Charges, Fixed Charges, Average Consumption Based etc.
Depending on the data gathered the demand for a particular billing period is calculated by the Computerized System. The outstanding amount is worked out on the basis of details of payments received. The charges for delayed payments or amounts not paid are calculated as per the rules given and the Bills are generated areawise.
C. Distribution of Bills to Consumer:
The distribution of bills can be done using any one of the following
a. By Post or Courier
b. By Persons specially appointed for this purpose
c. By Concerned Meter Readers/Ward Clerks
i) In a special round for distribution of bills
ii) At the time of Meter Reading for next round.
(This option saves effort/manpower but there is delay on one complete cycle in meter reading and distribution of bills)
D. Payment of Bills by the Consumer
The payments can be accepted at any one or more of the following:
a. Counters at various offices of the Board/Corporation
b. Various branches of Bank/Banks authorized for accepting payments
c. Door to door/on the spot recovery by concerned person/team.
d. Electronic fund transfer through various banks offering such option

E. Sending Receipt Details to Billing Section:
The collection counter/Bank/person shall send the receipt details to the billing section periodically (preferably daily basis) and the same is entered into the system and the totals cross checked.
F. Related Accounting:
The billing section also carries out the accounting related to these receipts such as posting of receipts, generation of demand registers or ledgers on periodic basis. The complete accounting related to the Billing is to be carried out by computerized system.
FREQUENCY OF BILLING
The frequency of Billing governs the cash flow of the Water billing system and thus more frequency means regular cash flow. The frequency of billing depends mainly on the type of system used. For Non-metered system the suggested Billing frequency is quarterly and for the Metered Systems the suggested Billing frequency is Bi-monthly. But in both cases all Non-Domestic, Industrial, Bulk Consumers shall preferably by billed Monthly to have a better control. The only other factor which can be considered in the respect is the availability of manpower for billing process and the cost of issuing bills in one complete billing etc.

DELAYED PAYMENTS:
Since water is being treated as a commodity consumed the advance billing is generally not carried out. It is therefore must to levy penalty/interest on the delayed payments of the bills. The minimum rate for such Delayed payments shall be at per with commercial interest rate.
COMPUTERISATION OF WATER BILLING SYSTEM
In this twenty first century Computers have become necessary in the day to day activities also. For the water billing system which is complex, repetitive and has voluminous data, computerization is must. Since various related areas like accounting, banking, consumer services are already computerized at most of the places computerization of the water billing is must.
REQUIREMENTS OF COMPUTERISED WATER BILLING SYSTEM
a. Hardware:- The Computer Hardware required for Water Billing System is as follows:
i) For Towns with 25,000 or less Water Connections the requirements of Hardware for processing of 5,000 Bills Per Month is as follows:-
P-III, 850+MHz, 64 MBRAM, 20GB HDD, 1.44 MB FDD, 2 Nos. 52x CD-ROM, SVGA MONITOR, KEYBOARD, MOUSE etc.
DOT MATRIX PRINTERS 300+ C.P.S., 132 Column – 2 Nos.
U.P.S. 1 KVA (At least 30 minutes battery backup) – 2 Nos.
ii) For Cities with more than 25,000 Water Connections requirement for processing 25,000 Bills Per Month is as follows:-
SERVER – P-4, 1+Ghz, 256 MB RAM, 2x20+ GB SCSI HDD, 1 No.
1.44 MB FDD, 52X CD-ROM, 8/16 GB DAT, SVGA MONITOR, KEYBOARD, MOUSE, ETHERNET CARD, 56.6 KBPS MODEM etc. P-III, 850+MHz, 64 MB RAM, 20 GB HDD, 1.44 MB FD, - 10 Nos. 52X CD-ROM, SVGA MONITOR, KEYBOARD, ETHERNET CARD, MOUSE etc.
16 PORT HUB - 1 No.
LINE PRINTER 1400 LPM - 1 No.
DOT MATRIX PRINTERS 300+C.P.S., 132 Column - 5 Nos.
U.P.S. 5 KVA (At least 30 minutes battery backup) - 1 No.
iii) For Metros with more than 1,00,000 Water Connections requirement the Hardware Setup mentioned in (ii) above needs to be installed at various Zonal Offices and these Servers be interconnected to each other for Data transfer or generation of reports.
b. System Software: The System Software required is as follows:
i) For Towns using stand along Computer systems the System Software required is Windows, FOXPRO
ii) For Cities and Metros using Servers the System Software is as follows:
Windows, UNIX, ORACLE, DEVELOPER 2000 or Visual Basic
c. Application Software: - The Application Software for the Water Billing System is the soul of the Computerized Water Billing System and needs to be developed as per the requirement of the Board/Urban Local Body.
d. Manpower:- The manpower required for the Computerized Water Billing System is as follows:-
i) Manager Data Processing – 1 No. for each Computer Centre
ii) Supervisor Data Processing – 2 Nos. for each Computer Centre
iii) Data Entry Operators – 1 No. for each Computer
PRIVATISATION:
Considering the volume of the work and skills required for the Computer Operations this activity can be entrusted to a private Agency on Contract basis. The Contract can be for complete Out-Sourcing or Data Processing or Deputing Expert Manpower for On – Site Data processing.

ADVANTAGES OF COMPUTERIZATION:
Control of the System
Decision Making
Sky is the limit
FUTURE AVENUES:
The Computerized Water Billing System can be used in future for direct payments through Credit Cards, Internet etc. The information for the consumers can also be made available on Internet or through Kiosks. The advance meters with remote reading techniques may give a system with minimum data entry to be done manually. The distribution network if available as Graphic information on Computers, can be directly be linked with the billing system to locate Water/Revenue losses.
OUTPUT FORMATS:
1. BILL: On Computer Stationary of 15” x 6” Size having three distinct parts which are separated by perforation for easy tear off. The data printed on all three parts is same. The first of leftmost part acts as acknowledgement of the Consumer for having received the bill for and also office copy of the bill issued. The Second or middle part is the Bill Cum Receipt for the consumer. The Third or rightmost part is the copy of the receipt given to consumer for the collection centre.
The contents of the bill are – Period of Billing, Zone, Area, Bill date, Due Date, Bill Number, Consumer No., Consumer Name, Address, Water Charge, Arrears, D.P.C., Meter Details, Previous & Current Reading, Status of Meter, Tap Size, Consumer Type, and Last Payment Details etc.
2. METER READING BOOK:
Consumer No., Name, Previous Reading & Status, Current Reading & Status
3. SCROLL
Receipt No., Date, Collection Centre, Consumer No., Name, Area, Amount,
Cheque Details etc.
4. LEDGER
Consumer No., Name, Outstanding amount as on 1st April and following details of each billing round in the year –
Current Reading & Status, Arrears, D.P.C., Water Charge, Receipt No., Date, Amount received.
5. ASSESSMENT / DEMAND
Zone, Area, Meter Reader, Total Water, Total D.P.C.
6. DEFAULTERS LIST
Consumer No., Name, Outstanding Amount, Last Payment Date, Status
7. DISCONNECTION LIST:
Meter Reader, Area, Consumer No., Name, Outstanding Amount