<p>The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has ordered a special audit of its books after unearthing a scam worth at least Rs 7 crore involving money paid by citizens towards water bills.</p>.<p>Following a tip-off on suspicious activity by three employees working on an outsourced basis, BWSSB officials conducted an internal inquiry that has established, prima facie, that water bills collected in the form of cash, demand drafts and cheques did not reach the utility's account. </p>.<p>According to sources, the matter was discussed in a recent review meeting where BWSSB chairperson N Jayaram ordered a special audit. </p>.<p>Confirming this, Jayaram told <em>DH</em> that a special audit would be done. "We suspect this was going on for the last few years and the special audit will reveal more details," he said.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-infrastructure/diversions-on-bannerghatta-road-due-to-namma-metro-work-1172196.html" target="_blank">Diversions on Bannerghatta Road due to Namma Metro work</a></strong></p>.<p>Apparently, the illegality has happened since 2017. "In 2016, an order was issued to collect water bills in the form of cash, demand drafts and cheques through manual counters and the responsibility of registering and reporting payments on Sajala software was given to assistant executive engineers of the respective divisions and a part of the revenue collected since then was not remitted to BWSSB," explained a source.</p>.<p>A note issued by the BWSSB states: "Some of the outsourced employees who were on manual cash counters managed to get unauthorised access to the login ID and password of superintendents and revenue managers at the sub-divisions and instead of depositing the cash collected, they uploaded only the customer receipt copy confirming the payment."</p>.<p>However, to get more details on the misuse, the BWSSB has constituted three teams to conduct special audits at all the sub-divisions. These teams have been asked to conduct detailed audits of the water bills generated and revenue collected since 2017. Reports are to be submitted by December 21. </p>.<p>Officials said the BWSSB would file criminal complaints based on the audit findings.</p>
<p>The Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has ordered a special audit of its books after unearthing a scam worth at least Rs 7 crore involving money paid by citizens towards water bills.</p>.<p>Following a tip-off on suspicious activity by three employees working on an outsourced basis, BWSSB officials conducted an internal inquiry that has established, prima facie, that water bills collected in the form of cash, demand drafts and cheques did not reach the utility's account. </p>.<p>According to sources, the matter was discussed in a recent review meeting where BWSSB chairperson N Jayaram ordered a special audit. </p>.<p>Confirming this, Jayaram told <em>DH</em> that a special audit would be done. "We suspect this was going on for the last few years and the special audit will reveal more details," he said.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/city/bengaluru-infrastructure/diversions-on-bannerghatta-road-due-to-namma-metro-work-1172196.html" target="_blank">Diversions on Bannerghatta Road due to Namma Metro work</a></strong></p>.<p>Apparently, the illegality has happened since 2017. "In 2016, an order was issued to collect water bills in the form of cash, demand drafts and cheques through manual counters and the responsibility of registering and reporting payments on Sajala software was given to assistant executive engineers of the respective divisions and a part of the revenue collected since then was not remitted to BWSSB," explained a source.</p>.<p>A note issued by the BWSSB states: "Some of the outsourced employees who were on manual cash counters managed to get unauthorised access to the login ID and password of superintendents and revenue managers at the sub-divisions and instead of depositing the cash collected, they uploaded only the customer receipt copy confirming the payment."</p>.<p>However, to get more details on the misuse, the BWSSB has constituted three teams to conduct special audits at all the sub-divisions. These teams have been asked to conduct detailed audits of the water bills generated and revenue collected since 2017. Reports are to be submitted by December 21. </p>.<p>Officials said the BWSSB would file criminal complaints based on the audit findings.</p>
