ISLAMABAD: In an alarming disclosure in an official document, it has been stated that 15 billion units of electricity costing over Rs220 billion were lost in the last financial year out of which at least 25-40 percent is considered to be outright theft causing a colossal loss of Rs90 billion.
This has been mentioned in the official document about the ordinance on enactment of theft control of gas and electricity with huge increase in penalties. A copy of the draft ordinance is available with ‘The News’.
The draft bill for the enactment of the gas theft control and recovery ordinance 2013, and offences & penalties relating to electricity amendment in the PPC & CrPC will be tabled in the Council of Common Interests (CCI) that meets on Tuesday with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the chair for approval. If the CCI approves the ordinances, they will be sent to the president for promulgation.
Those who will be involved in gas theft or meter tampering would face huge penalties and the ones who would help nab the people involved in stealing gas would be awarded with two percent of the recovered amount.
The name of informers would be kept secret. The government would, under the proposed ordinance, establish the Gas Utility Courts for recovery of damages of gas. The Gas
Utility Courts will be having the powers to extend the punishment of 2-3 years imprisonment with penalty in the range of Rs3 million to Rs10 million.
The document reveals that only Rs3.2 billion has been recovered out of the total detection bills amounting to Rs13 billion.
In the document, the Ministry of Water and Power argues that against the total 7,800 distribution feeders in national grid except the KESC, as many as 4,000 feeders have a loss of more than the standard figures which is a large percentage when seen in the context of the total 22 million consumers base and the situation has arisen where about 15 billion units of electricity have been wasted and stolen in 2012-13, out of which at least 25-40 percent got lost because of theft inflicting an enormous loss of up to Rs90 billion.
So the Ministry of Water and Power wants to urgently rectify the present situation.The ministry has suggested in the draft of the ordinance punishment of 1-7 years rigorous imprisonment with penalty of Rs2-3 million.
However, the Planning Commission has suggested introducing the Power Police Stations that will exclusively deal with the electricity theft cases as happens in India.
The Planning Commission has also asked to incorporate into the draft bill that employees of Wapda, Pepco, Discos should be dealt with as general consumers and should be part of the same crimes in case of any illegality.
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