Power theft up, but recovery of penalty poor in Faridabad

Tribune News Service

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, January 21

With the incidence of power thefts on the rise in the Faridabad circle of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), the recovery of penalties imposed on offenders has been poor.

Organised pilferage network

Several commercial units, including dyeing workshops, have illegal electricity connections. This is a result of an organised power pilferage network. Varun Sheokand, RTI activist

The DHBVN detected 3,121 power theft cases between April and December 2022 and imposed a penalty of Rs 24.84 crore. However, Rs 10.89 crore (43.84 per cent) has been recovered from the offenders, said sources in the Power Department.

The numbers are likely to shoot up as three months are left before the 2022-23 financial year ends. Will the percentage of recovering penalty also increase?

If one were to look at the figures of the past two years, the sorry state of affairs surfaces. In 2021, only 49.35 per cent of the fine was recovered, while 66.74 per cent of the penalty was recovered in 2020.

The things have come to such a pass because of pending legal cases, “shoddy” police action into power theft cases and complaints, shortage of staff in the DHBVN and “ineffective” penalty recovery drives, said the sources.

Line losses in the Faridabad circle are 8.94 per cent this fiscal, an increase from the past two years. Line losses were 6.55 per cent in 2021-22 and 6.91 per cent in 2020-21, according to official data compiled recently.

Officials say the majority of power theft incidents are reported from densely populated residential colonies. That being said, the role of DHBVN employees in the power theft networks cannot be ruled out, they claim.

In July 2020, an inter-state power theft racket was unearthed. It was found that electricity was being illegally supplied to farmhouses located across the Yamuna in adjoining Uttar Pradesh.

Varun Sheokand, an RTI activist, alleged: “Several commercial units, including dyeing workshops, have illegal electricity connections. This is a result of an organised power pilferage network.”

When a senior DHBVN official was told as much, he said the discom had been imposing fines on those misusing electricity. “Power thefts are dealt with a strict legal action. Anyone can report power theft on tollfree number 18001801011 and WhatsApp number 70270-0832,” he said.

The official further claimed the technical and distribution losses had reduced significantly. “Technical augmentation of the distribution network, discouraging thefts by increasing high-tension lines and intensive theft detection drives have yielded positive results,” he claimed.

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