PSPCL slaps ₹25 lakh fines for power theft in Ludhiana

Officials said PSPCL had inputs of power theft from the locality and the enforcement and distribution cells conducted joint raids based on that information

{Raids in Dugri} 37 violators found

According to PSPCL officials, 296 connections were checked, and fines worth ₹25 lakh were slapped on 37 violators. (Gurpreet Singh/ HT)

Cracking down hard on electricity theft, the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) on Tuesday conducted raids at the CRPF Colony, Dugri, and fined at least 37 violators, officials aware of the developments said.

According to PSPCL officials, 296 connections were checked, and fines worth ₹25 lakh were slapped on 37 violators.

Officials said PSPCL had inputs of power theft from the locality and the enforcement and distribution cells conducted joint raids based on that information. They were accompanied by a police team.

Enforcement wing’s central zone superintendent engineer Baljinder Singh Sandhu, who was in-charge of the raids, said, “We had information that there were a lot of illegal connections in the locality. We found around 37 illegal connections.”

“We have imposed a total penalties worth ₹25 lakh,” he added.

He said the PSPCL conducts such raids every other week.

To be sure, the colony in question is not linked to the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) at present. There was a CRPF camp in the area long ago, which is where the name stems from.