Delhi Jal Board launches doorstep e-KYC drive to overhaul water billing system

The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) has launched a citywide door-to-door electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) verification drive to overhaul its water billing system, identify genuine consumers, eliminate duplicate connections and reduce revenue losses caused by inaccurate records and unauthorised water usage, officials said on Tuesday.

The exercise comes amid growing concerns over billing irregularities, with only about 40 per cent of the board's nearly 30 lakh registered consumers receiving proper water bills. The DJB hopes to establish an accurate digital database of consumers, improve the delivery of bills and strengthen revenue collection through verification of water connections at the household level.

Officials said the initiative would also help address longstanding complaints about delayed bills, incorrect consumer information and discrepancies between actual water connections and the records maintained by the board. By linking verified consumer details with meter photographs and geographical coordinates, the DJB aims to create a more reliable billing and monitoring mechanism.

𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀

Under the drive, authorised DJB field agents will visit households to verify consumer information, photograph water meters and record the GPS coordinates of the premises. The information will subsequently be uploaded to the board's Revenue Management System (RMS), creating an updated digital record for each verified connection.

The verification process will be completed through a one-time password sent to the consumer's registered mobile number. Officials said the system would help establish the identity and location of genuine customers while identifying duplicate, incorrect or outdated entries in the existing database.

"Our effort is to fix these gaps at the ground level and build a system that is accurate, transparent and trustworthy. This will help consumers get digital bills by email and WhatsApp. Many customers complained about not getting proper, timely bills," an official said.

The DJB expects the exercise to improve the accuracy of consumer records and ensure that water bills are delivered electronically and on time. The digital verification process is also intended to reduce manual intervention and strengthen accountability in billing operations.

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗱

The water utility has issued a public advisory urging residents to verify the identity of field agents before allowing them to conduct the e-KYC exercise. It has made clear that authorised personnel are not permitted to collect money or accept gifts during household visits.

"Check the authorised ID of the metre reader, do not pay. DJB field agents are strictly not authorised to collect cash or any other gifts. Never share original documents," the civic body said in its public notice.

The advisory is intended to protect consumers against possible impersonation and fraudulent collection of money during the verification campaign. Residents have been advised to cooperate with authorised personnel while taking precautions to safeguard their personal information and documents.

Officials said the verification exercise would be carried out through the prescribed digital procedure, with household details updated in the DJB's centralised system following authentication.

𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟰𝟬 𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀

The initiative seeks to address significant deficiencies in the capital's water billing network. Although the DJB has approximately 30 lakh registered consumers, officials said only 40 per cent currently receive proper bills, indicating substantial gaps in billing coverage and consumer record management.

Water Minister Parvesh Verma had earlier acknowledged that water billing had become a major source of distress for households across Delhi. Complaints involving incorrect bills, delayed billing and discrepancies in consumer records have highlighted the need for a comprehensive overhaul of the system.

The Delhi government approved the digital database updating project in April this year, with the exercise envisaged to cover nearly 35 lakh consumers. The larger coverage target is intended to support a comprehensive verification and updating of the board's consumer database.

"The existing scale of operations, legacy processes, manual interventions and fragmented field operations have resulted in challenges related to billing accuracy, consumer data quality, service transparency and revenue efficiency," an official said.

Officials believe that replacing outdated records with verified digital information will make it easier to resolve billing disputes and reduce errors arising from inaccurate consumer details.

𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀

Another major objective of the exercise is to reduce non-revenue water, which remains a serious financial and operational challenge for the DJB. According to officials, nearly 50 per cent of the water supplied by the utility currently falls under the non-revenue water category.

Non-revenue water refers to water that enters the distribution system but does not generate revenue because of factors such as physical leakages, theft, unauthorised connections, inaccurate metering and unbilled consumption.

The high level of such losses has placed additional pressure on the DJB's finances while complicating efforts to improve the efficiency of water distribution across the capital.

Officials believe that identifying illegal connections and bringing previously unrecorded water usage into the formal billing system could help reduce commercial losses and improve revenue generation. Accurate geographical mapping of water connections is also expected to help the board identify discrepancies between registered consumers and actual water usage.

𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗺𝗽 𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀

The DJB's digital verification campaign forms part of a broader effort to modernise its revenue management operations and improve transparency in consumer services. Officials said the exercise would help establish a more dependable database for billing, connection monitoring and future service delivery.

The introduction of electronic bills through email and WhatsApp is expected to reduce dependence on conventional billing methods and make it easier for consumers to receive and track their water bills.

The board also hopes that improved consumer identification will help detect unauthorised connections and strengthen its ability to account for water supplied across different areas.

With household verification now underway, the success of the initiative will depend on the accuracy of field-level data collection, consumer participation and effective integration of updated records into the Revenue Management System.