E-Paper
Ludhiana: PSPCL collects ₹120.28L fine in 650 cases of power theft in 2 weeks
Adopting a zero-tolerance approach against power thefts in the city, the teams are conducting systematic checking in their respective areas
In a bid to curb huge losses caused by power theft, teams of Central Zone of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), Ludhiana on Wednesday slapped a penalty of ₹120.28 lakh on the defaulting consumers.
Adopting a zero-tolerance approach against power thefts in the city, the teams are conducting systematic checking in their respective areas.
In the last 15 days, the teams have checked as many as 11,977 connections and detected 650 cases of power thefts, unauthorised use of electricity, and extension of load.
The total fine collected by the teams amounted to ₹120.28 lakhs in 650 cases of power theft.
This checking was conducted from August 17 till August 31 under a zero-tolerance drive started by the PSPCL under the directions of A Venu Prasad, CMD, PSPCL and DPS Grewal, director, distribution.
Chief engineer of Ludhiana central zone Varinder Pal Singh Saini said that of 650 cases were detected by the teams, of which 331 cases of power theft, 33 cases of unauthorised use of electricity and 286 cases of unauthorised load extension. The fine amounting to ₹98.69 lakhs, ₹4.31 lakhs and ₹17.27 lakhs was charged for the same respectively.
He said that there are four circles in central zone — East, West, Suburban and Khanna. As many as 2,293 connections were checked in East circle during this drive, while 1,862 connections were checked in West and 4,664 and 3,158 connections were checked in Suburban and Khanna respectively.
He added that apart from charging fine, FIRs have also been registered against consumers who were found stealing power.
Saini said that the department wants to curb the power theft menace to provide uninterrupted supply to its consumers. “I appeal to the residents that they should help the department in controlling unscrupulous practices,” he said.
Venu Prasad said that the motive behind the drive is to discourage consumers from stealing power and other illegal practices such as overloading and tampering with electricity meters. He said that the drive will be intensified and warned of stringent action against consumers found violating power consumption norms.
He added that consumers can get their complaints registered on helpline number 1912. “If the line is busy, they can SMS at 1912 and their complaint will get automatically registered,” he said.