Water & Sewerage Connections Functional Specifications
Functional overview for stakeholders
Introduction
The Water and Sewerage Connections module provides a digital interface to apply for water and sewerage connections and, pay the water and sewerage charges for connection/s. It can be used by the citizens, Urban Local Body (ULB) counter employees and field employees, and ULB Administrators to accomplish their specific tasks. It is available as a mobile and web-based application.
Functional Scope
The Water and Sewerage product features can be broadly classified as the following modules:
Registration, Login and Creation of User Profile
Applying for a new Water/Sewerage connection
Searching for a Connection
Modifications to a Connection
Entering meter reading of metered connections
Generate Demand
Payment collection and Receipts
Closure of water connection
Dashboards and Reports
Registration, Login and Creation of User Profile
This module provides enables the following capabilities
OTP Based Login for Citizens via Web/Mobile App
OTP Based Login for Employees via Web/Mobile App
Provision for language selection during first-time registration for both Employees and citizens
Provision of creating a personalized Profile for Citizens and employees on the Web App
Login Credentials for the various hierarchy of employees
Role-based access for performing different actions relating to the Water & Sewerage Connections module
Application for new Water/Sewerage connection
The system allows the Citizen / ULB user (with an appropriate role in the system) to apply for a New Water/Sewerage connection. The application goes through an approval workflow before it is available for various transactions in the system. The workflow to be followed for a new water/sewerage connection is configurable. In the workflow, the ULB official will generate the estimation notice. Once the payment is made, a work order will be generated.
Every time there is a change in the status of an application, the citizen will be intimated through in-app notifications, SMS and email. The citizen and employee can view the history of the various states that an application has been in and the comments added by the employee in each state of the application.
Searching for a Connection
The employee from the Water & Sewerage department will be able to access the feature, to search for water and sewerage connections. They can search for any connection based on parameters such as:
Consumer number
Application number
Owner mobile number
Application status
From date
To date
The search result contains the application number, Consumer number, Owner name, Status, Due amount and Pay now option. The Employee can make payment for a connection on the citizen’s behalf using the ‘Pay Now’ option.
Citizens can also search for their connection in the portal. They can search using the owner's mobile number, Property ID, Consumer number etc. The search result yields, the Owner’s Name, Address, Due amount and Pay option.
Modifications to a Connection
The system facilitates the title transfer of the water tap connection from one person to the other person. Title transfer of water tap connection directly depends upon Property tax. If title transfer is done in the property tax module then at the time of final approval, the changes will reflect in the W&S module automatically. After the title transfer has been completed successfully, subsequent bills will be generated with the details of the new owner/s.
Water tap change in usage happens when the property type is changed from residential to Non-residential or from Non-residential to residential. Change in usage directly depends on the property tax module. If the property type is changed in the Property tax system then it will automatically reflect in the W&S system. When there is a change in the usage type, the subsequent bills will reflect the rates as per the updated usage category. When there is a change in the usage category in the middle of the billing cycle, pro-rata charges will be applied in the next billing period.
The change in connection category from non-metered to metered and vice-versa is also possible in the W&S system with the appropriate workflow configured to inform all stakeholders of the change and collect any charges (if applicable) from the citizen.
Entering meter readings of metered connections
On the Water & Sewerage Connections billing screen, there is a card called ‘Meter reading’. An employee can click on ‘Meter reading’ which redirects the employee to the meter reading landing screen. The employee can search based on the following criteria:
ULB
Boundary Type
Boundary Value
Billing Year
Billing Period
Billing Period Value
Consumer No.
This feature facilitates the employee to search for all results based on desired criteria. The search result yields the following values: consumer number, owner name, meter status, last reading, current reading, date and consumption.
The employee can edit meter status, current reading, date and consumption under certain conditions. Based on this information the employee can generate the bills for connections.
Generate Demand
In the system, there is a feature to generate demand under the billing section. Generate demand has a search feature in which, the connections can be searched for which demand has been already generated. An employee can view, also edit those demands based on certain conditions.
The system has the capability to configure the demand generation as an automatic or a manual process. In the automatic process, the demand generation for non-metered connections is automatically done periodically. For a metered connection as soon as the employee enters the meter reading and clicks on ‘SAVE’, the demand is generated.
Any success/ failure to generate demand triggers an automatic notification to the concerned ULB officials via email. Also, the demand generation cycle, demand generation date and officials who should receive the notifications can be configured.
Payments collection and Receipts
The citizen can pay for dues by searching his/her connection. In search results, the citizen can click on pay, which redirects to the summary page of the dues. After this, the citizen can pay for dues online. An employee can also collect the payment on the citizen’s behalf. After searching for the desired connection, clicking on pay will redirect the employee to the common payment page. The employee can print the receipt after the payment is successfully collected. The citizen is also notified and gets a download receipt link in the notification.
Closure of Water Connection
If the Water tap owner has their own water source then the water tap owner can initiate for Water tap connection closure permanently. So, that tap will be closed permanently and demand will not be generated for the connection. Application for the closing of the water tap connection is accepted only with the latest water charges receipt and clearing of old dues.
Dashboards and Reports
The state-level administrator can keep track of relevant metrics by using dashboards. Dashboards for Water & Sewerage can be accessed by a state-level user under login. The dashboard has these components:
Financial Indicators
Water & Sewerage Total collections YTD
Water Collection
Sewerage Collection
Water - Demand vs Collection (Monthly trend)
Sewerage - Demand vs Collection (Monthly trend)
Municipal Adoption
W & S: No. Of ULBs Live
W & S: Total Number of ULBs
Water Consumers by Connection Type
W & S Consumers by Usage Type
Total Collections by Source
Total Collections by Mode
W & S Adoption: ULB Wise
Today’s Collections
W&S Total collections: Today
Water Charges - Total collections: Today
Sewerage Charges - Total collections: Today
W&S - Total No. of Receipts: Today
Water - Total No. of Receipts: Today
Sewerage - Total No. of Receipts: Today
Mode-wise W&S collections: Today
W&S ULB wise collections: Today
The table below lists the functionalities supported by the offered product as per the recommendations under the guidelines mentioned under the Ease of Doing Business (EODB) guidelines of 2019.
| Reform Area | Weightage (score) | Recommendation | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
Obtaining Utility Permits | 1 | Obtaining Water Connection | Implement an online application system with the following features: i. Online submission of application without the need to submit a physical copy of the application ii. Eliminate physical touchpoint for document submission iii. Allow the option of online payment of application fee iv. Allow the applicant to track the status of the application online ( Available in DIGIT Platform) |
Obtaining Utility Permits | 1 | Obtaining Water Connection | Display information on tariffs (in Rs. per kL) and notify customers of the change in tariff ahead of the billing cycle (for commercial and industrial users) ( Available in DIGIT Platform) |
Obtaining Utility Permits | 1 | Obtaining Water Connection | Allow users to pay water bills online ( Available in DIGIT Platform) |