Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) yesterday officially launched its online billing system, with a view to reducing customer harassment and ensuring transparency in the billing process.
Anwarul Iqbal, local government, rural development and cooperatives adviser, inaugurated the website at Wasa Bhaban in the capital yesterday. Speaking on the occasion, Adviser Iqbal said the standard of existing water and sewerage billing of Wasa is poor in comparison with that of other countries in the world. The Wasa has some problems in its billing and collection method that its customers often complain about and the introduction of the online billing system is a significant step towards addressing the issues, he added. If the online billing system is implemented properly, the customers will be able to access their monthly water bills over the internet and file complaints if there is any discrepancy in their bills, said Iqbal. Since about 80 percent of the city dwellers do not have internet access, Wasa will need to explore ways how to draw the city dwellers into using the online service to make the online billing system a success, he also advised. Regarding the preservation of natural water bodies in the city, Adviser Iqbal said the government has decided to preserve the water body behind Sonargaon Hotel upto Rampura Bridge by demolishing 11 structures instead of 300 structures, as proposed by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) earlier. Since sewage from Baridhara and Gulshan areas is being dumped into Gulshan lake due to the lack any proper sewer system in the area, the adviser urged the Wasa authorities to prepare a plan for setting up a sewage treatment plant for these areas. Adviser Iqbal said in order to protect the Turag River from pollution during Ijtema, the government has already taken a Tk 10 crore project for building a multi-storied toilet facility on the Ijtema ground. Dhaka Wasa now serves about 2 lakh customers. It earned Tk 271 crore in revenue in fiscal year 2006-'07 and it earned another Tk 25 crore from other sectors, he said. He urged all to come forward and turn Dhaka Wasa into a corruption- free, transparent and profitable service provider. Jafrin Hossain, senior system analyst of Dhaka Wasa, said the Dhaka Wasa website, www.dwasa.org.bd, contains contact details of high officials of Dhaka Wasa, tender information, forms and guidelines for water and sewerage connection, customer billing information, download and print option for water and sewerage bill of any specific month, option to lodge a complaint and view the action taken by Dhaka Wasa following a particular complaint. Besides, customers will also be able to lodge their complaints directly to the top management of Dhaka Wasa through this site, Hossain said adding that after the banks that collect Wasa bills are integrated with the online billing system of Dhaka Wasa, customers will be able to pay their bills online. Abdullah Harun Pasha, chairman of Dhaka Wasa and Raihanul Abedin, managing director of Dhaka Wasa, also spoke at the ceremony. Dhaka Wasa: http://www.dwasa.org.bd
