‘DJB revenue up despite subsidy’

The city’s water utility earned more in 2015 than it did in 2014, despite giving away free water through the Aam Aadmi Party Government’s subsidy scheme.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday that the Delhi Jal Board’s revenue had gone up in 2015, even though all those with metered connections were getting 20,000 litres of free water every month.

“Before launching the scheme, we were told that the subsidy will hit the DJB’s finances. But, the DJB has earned Rs.178 crore more in 2015 compared to the previous year,” said Mr. Kejriwal, who was speaking at the launch of the DJB’s mobile bill payment app.

Kapil Mishra, the chairperson of the DJB, later said that the revenue had gone up as the billing and collection systems had been strengthened in the past year.

“We improved our meter reading. Earlier meter readers were going to 2 lakh units, but in the past four billing cycles they have been reaching 16 lakh units. We have also made it easier to deposit bill payments,” said Mr. Mishra.

He added that the government had incentivised those with illegal connections to have them regularised by lowering the cost of new connections.

“By the end of this financial year, the revenue increase will be much more,” said Mr. Mishra.

Meanwhile, the Android app launched on Friday aims at making paying water bills easier. While launching ‘mSeva’, Mr. Kejriwal said the app would give consumers the opportunity to pay their bills from their smartphones.

The app can be downloaded from a link that is sent once users call 011-23637640. The app allows users to generate their own bills anytime, make payments online, download previous bills and receipts, and check their consumption levels.