This is the depth of the gap between the power charges billed by the DVB and the revenue they actually end up collecting. And the result of the gap is that at least Rs 30 crore does not make its way to the DVB's coffers every month.

Now the DVB's money managers are desperately attempting to bridge this gap. But they are worried that despite several measures the total number of bills issued and the counterfoils and receipts never tally.

At a meeting with the DVB's head honchos in the last week of May, Delhi Chief Secretary Omesh Saigal had pointed out: ``The percentage of stubs (counterfoil of cheques and receipts) has not improved for the past three months and has remained at an inexplicably low level.'' Adds DVB Member (Finance) B.K. Gupta: ``By June, the arrears had amounted to over Rs 2,000.'' The problem primarily stems from faulty delivery of bills. So the first counter measure now, says Gupta, has been engaging the services of a courier agency to deliver the bills. For the time being, the agency has been asked to concentrate on the 1.10 lakh small industrial power (SIP) consumers, for whom bills are compiled every month. In case of domestic consumers, billing is a bi-monthly affair.

``While the courier service has ensured almost 100 per cent delivery, they have also provide us valuable input about the nature of power consumption,'' says Gupta.

For example, a consumer may have been sanctioned one connection, but could be found to have five. Or that other contractors were collecting, at every step, money to deliver the bills, and yet the bills never reached the consumers. ``The shocking thing is that until now even our own staff had not reported this kind of aberration,'' says Gupta.

Another important aberration which has contributed to the revenue shortfall, he says, is the shocking discovery that the DVB's own staff turned a blind eye to over 4,000 fictitious addresses in the city, where they had been sending bills.

``This means that over 4,000 people had obtained a power connection by furnishing an incomplete address, or an address elsewhere. But all this time this anomaly has not been detected,'' says Gupta. ``A vigilance inquiry is now on.''

Then there are the 4,000-odd government schools, offices and hospitals which had been consuming power without paying a penny. Because they never ever saw a bill landing at their doorsteps. Most of these institution are under the jurisdiction of the MCD. ``We are trying to get MCD to recover some of the revenue, or at least adjust with what we owe them,'' says Gupta.

There are instances where people have not paid up because of wrong billing. Some had even obtained a court order in this connection. ``There is no centralised record-keeping facility with the DVB, which gives this information. There continues to be a gap,'' adds Gupta. ``I have written to every defaulter owing over Rs 10 lakh, asking them to explain why they are withholding payments.'' The DVB's managers dream of collecting Rs 300 crore every month currently they only get Rs 230 to 240 crore when the gap is finally bridged. By then they hope they would have installed elctronic meters, replaced faulty ones, caught power thieves and, most importantly, traced all consumer.