4 Water Inspectors and 18 Meter Readers siphon off money paid by 490 citizens towards pending water bills

Mysuru: Mysuru seems to be grappling with a series of corruption scams involving public funds. After the massive illegal allotment of thousands of sites and the embezzlement of crores of rupees by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), another shocking case has emerged.

This time, it is Vani Vilas Water Works (VVWW), the Mysuru City Corporation’s (MCC) drinking water supply arm, where some of the employees have been caught misappropriating water bill payments made by unsuspecting citizens.

During a review meeting in October 2024 to assess progress on outstanding water bill collections, it was discovered that certain VVWW staff had misused consumer payments.

Investigation Committee

In response, MCC Commissioner Ashaad-Ur-Rahman Shariff formed a Committee, headed by Superintending Engineer (SE) K.J. Sindhu, to probe the matter. The MCC also plans to file criminal cases against the culprits and terminate them, if found guilty.

Meter Readers H.B. Girish (Wards 17 and 25), Saifulla (Ward 35), P. Vivek (Wards 3, 4 and 5), A.V. Ashok Kumar (Wards 45 and 46), M. Pradeep Kumar (Ward 20), P. Jayashankar (Wards 1 and 20), S.C. Madhu Kumar (Wards 1 and 4), C.P. Raghu (Ward 1), T.M. Siddesh (Ward 23), M. Mallesh (Wards 20, 21 and 44), C. Kumar (Wards 9 and 10), R.S. Deve Gowda (Bharat Nagar and Satagalli), Razeek Ahmed (Wards 11, 12 and 13), C.M. Sagar (Wards 13 and 14), N. Praveen (Ward 51), Lingaraju (Wards 10 and 11); Water Inspectors N. Mohan (Hootagalli area), K. Mahesh (Vijayanagar) and Channegowda (Wards 8, 17 and 25), have been found guilty in this major embezzlement scandal.

Additionally, Mallikarjun, a backend technical staff member from a private company — Seminal Software Pvt. Ltd, — responsible for managing the water billing software, was found complicit. Together, they misappropriated Rs. 1.25 crore by generating fake bills and defrauding MCC through fraudulent water bill collections from consumers.

4 Water Inspectors, 18 Meter Readers

Four Water Inspectors and 18 Meter Readers targeted households with outstanding water bills for several months, using threats of disconnecting the water supply to coerce immediate and on-the-spot cash payments.

After collecting the money, instead of depositing the collected cash into the official water users’ accounts, they pocketed the money. At the end of each month, they collaborated with Mallikarjun from Seminal, the company managing the water billing software. Mallikarjun illegally generated fake receipts and entered the collected amounts into the users’ accounts. This conspiracy caused the next month’s water bills to reflect reduced amounts, enabling the culprits to evade detection temporarily. However, the fraud came to light during a review of outstanding water bill collections.

Fraudulent activities

For approximately one-and-a-half years, Water Inspectors and Meter Readers engaged in fraudulent activities by creating fake receipts and misappropriating funds. Between April 2023 and Dec. 5, 2024, they collected Rs. 1.25 crore from 490 water consumers without depositing the money into the MCC account or the accounts of VV Water Works. This misconduct was uncovered during a review of outstanding water bill collections.

Following this discovery, MCC Commissioner Ashaad-Ur-Rahman Shariff directed Superintending Engineer Sindhu to investigate the matter and provide a detailed report with recommendations.

Culprits tender apology, repay Rs. 99,34,425

The Investigation Committee, led by MCC SE K.J. Sindhu, found that the culprits admitted to their wrongdoings and submitted written apology letters to the MCC. As of now, they have repaid Rs. 99,34,425,which has been duly deposited into the City Corporation’s account. Mallikarjun, managing the water billing software on behalf of Seminal Software Pvt. Ltd., played a crucial role in the embezzlement. The investigation revealed that he hacked the login credentials of Executive Engineer and used them to generate fake  bills in software daily between 6 pm and midnight.

Six regular employees, rest contract

Among the hand-in-glove staff members, six are regular employees, while 15 are contractual workers. SE Sindhu, who led the investigation, compiled a detailed report supported by comprehensive documentation and submitted it to the MCC Commissioner.

It has been recommended in the report to file criminal cases against the staff who misappropriated cash collected from the public for outstanding water bills and failed to deposit it into the Corporation’s account. Additionally, it has been suggested in the report that these individuals be dismissed from service.

Four dismissed today

Following the submission of  the report, MCC Commissioner Shariff today dismissed four timescale employees while 15 members of outsourced employees were relieved from service.

Preparations are also underway to lodge a Police complaint and register an FIR against those involved in the embezzlement.

This incident follows a similar case where a female data entry operator working on a contract basis at Srirampura Town Panchayat in Mysuru misa propriated tax payments made by the public without depositing them into Government account.

It is also worth noting a previous instance where two staff members of KSRP Unit in Mysuru misappropriated incentive funds meant for Police personnel.

The repeated misuse of public money highlights a troubling pattern of corruption in Government Departments, eroding trust and accountability in Mysuru’s administration.