Customer Service and Public Awareness
The increase in water supply through the Melamchi Water Supply Project will provide sufficient water to customers who have been receiving water less frequently due to insufficient water source. In addition, the large increase in water use is expected to lead to a variety of complaints from the customers.
Therefore, this project will enhance the customer service capacity of KUKL and aim to improve customer satisfaction by providing training to customer service staff of KUKL and conducting educational activities to improve customer awareness, on the occasion of the expansion of water supply hours by the Melamchi Water Supply Project.
The following principal activities will contribute to achieving a virtuous cycle of improved customer satisfaction and increased bill collection.
- Water users feel the improvement of water services
- Revitalize the activities of this project by improving customer satisfaction
- Start of appropriate billing based on accurate meter reading
- Gradual expansion of water supply hour, etc.
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- Customer Service & Public Awareness
Toward improving customer's trust for water supply service
These activities will be expanded step by step after confirming the customer's awareness and reliability of KUKL from the results of the customer satisfaction survey, aiming for the virtuous cycle shown below:
Baseline of Customer Satisfaction
To understand the level of customer satisfaction regarding the current water service, the 1st customer satisfaction survey was conducted in November 2021. It was based on a door-to-door interview targeting a total of 1,000 customers within the ring road of Kathmandu.
Survey Area
| DMA/District | No. of customers | Percentate | Required No. of Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMA 1 | 10,713 | 12.2% | 122 |
| DMA 2 | 6,869 | 7.8% | 78 |
| DMA 3 | 11,445 | 13.0% | 130 |
| DMA 4 | 5.291 | 6.0% | 60 |
| DMA 5 | 6,350 | 7.2% | 72 |
| DMA 6 | 5,159 | 5.9% | 59 |
| DMA 7 | 15,754 | 17.9% | 179 |
| DMA 8 | 5,746 | 6.5% | 65 |
| DMA 9 | 3,238 | 3.7% | 37 |
| DMA 10 | 1,715 | 1.9% | 19 |
| DMA 11 | 4,513 | 5.1% | 51 |
| OHT Mimbhawan | 5,348 | 6.1% | 61 |
| Gausala | 5,971 | 6.8% | 68 |
| Total | 88,112 | 100.0% | 122 |
Water Supply Status in 2021
In November 2021, the customers receiving either regular or irregular water from their connection is 80.2% and 19.8% have responded no water supply for more than one years.
The graph below shows the percentage of customers for which water supply is realized by KUKL by DMA wise. Water supply rates have increased in all DMAs since the start of water diversion from the Melamchi River and the operation of the New Sundarijal WTP in March 2023.
Water Demand Suffiency Ratio in 2021 & 2023
The percentage of KUKL's water supply to the customer's water demand is an important indicator in determining the evaluation of water service. As shown here, the number of customers who responded that their daily water demand can be covered by KUKL's water supply (100% sufficiency) doubled compared to 2021.
Use of water supplied by KUKL in 2021 & 2023
The study investigated how the water supplied by KUKL is used.
The percentage of customers using it for Drinnking increased from 52.7% in 2021 to 60.9% in 2023.
The percentage of customers using it for Cooking increased from 67.1% in 2021 to 87.2% in 2023.
Water supply from sources other than KUKL in 2021
Customers were asked about their use of water supply other than KUKL. “Jar water" is the most common water source used by customers, followed by private vendors and self-supplied water sources (wells). Jar water" is supplied in 20 litre bottles, as shown in the picture below, and is commonly used with servers.
Payments for water supply served by KUKL in 2021
Respondents were asked about their monthly payment for water supply served by KUKL, with the majority of respondents (87%) paying less than NRs.250, followed by 71% paying less than NRs.150 and 16% paying between NRs.151 and 250. When asked how they felt about the price, 66% said it was "normal", 32% said it was "expensive" and 2% said it was "cheap". 32% of customers were dissatisfied with the price, while a significant number felt it was reasonable.
Satisfaction with KUKL's customer service by tepephone in 2021 & 2023
The peak level of satisfaction with telephone response by KUKL was at 3 (normal) in 2021, but moved to 4 (a little satisfied) in 2023. This indicates a trend of increasing customer satisfaction with telephone support. Regarding the reason for the decrease in the absolute number of responses, the KUKL staffs commented that the number of complaint calls has definitely decreased since the water supply from Melamchi started in earnest.
Satisfaction with KUKL's customer service in the field (Face to Face) in 2021 & 2023
The KUKL staff commented that with the start of water supply from Melamchi, there has been an increase in communication with customers in the field due to the increased workload of checking water meters, registering new customers, etc. It is also a desirable result that most of the responses to customer service in the field are concentrated in from 4 (a little satisfied) to 5 (satisfied). Based on these results, JICA Expert Team proposed the internal sharing of customer service reports with KUKL and the establishment of regular meetings with the PID.
Overall Customer's Satisfaction in 2021 & 2023
There was no significant difference in the level of satisfaction with the KUKL service from the three perspectives of "Satisfaction with the level of tariff", "Satisfaction with the amount of water supplied" and "Satisfaction with the service as a whole". The level of satisfaction with KUKL's overall service is as follows:
Practical Training for Customer Care and Database Management
As the Melamchi Water Supply Project will significantly increase water supply in Kathmandu Valley, KUKL is working hard to improve customer service. While the conventional water service did not provide sufficient satisfaction to customers, KUKL will provide high quality water service in terms of both water quantity and quality by enhancing communication with customers. JICA Experts Team is providing training in customer care, drawing on the expertise of the Tokyo Metropolitan Waterworks Bureau, and through data analysis of customer satisfaction surveys, an action plan is being developed for future service improvements.
