More than 5k power theft cases reported in Greater Noida till Sept

Over 5,000 cases of power theft have been reported in Greater Noida, resulting in a penalty of ₹33.62 crore. Most offenders were legitimate power consumers.

Between January 1 and September 30, 2023, more than 5,000 cases of power theft were reported in Greater Noida, resulting in a substantial penalty of ₹33.62 crore imposed on the offenders, Noida Power Company Limited (NPCL) officials said on Monday.

According to officials, the majority of these violators were power consumers who, despite having a legitimate power connection, engaged in electricity theft, with rural areas reporting the highest number of cases. (Representative Image)

According to officials, the majority of these violators were power consumers who, despite having a legitimate power connection, engaged in electricity theft, with rural areas reporting the highest number of cases.

Speaking on the enforcement efforts against power theft, NPCL spokesperson Manoj Jha said, “Most of the defaulters are NPCL power consumers who had a valid electricity connection but were still illegally tapping into cables to steal electricity. The process of recovering penalties from these offenders is ongoing.”

During a recent departmental raid on Saturday, 32 instances of power theft were identified, resulting in a penalty of ₹66 lakh. The raid uncovered electricity theft amounting to 148 kW in various parts of Greater Noida.

“In Ghodi Bachheda village, Vinod was caught stealing 11 kW of power while operating a welding shop. Others, including Chaman Singh, Rajwati, and Monu from the same village, were found illicitly connecting to power cables,” said the NPCL spokesperson, adding that in Rithora, a Babu was responsible for a power theft of 7 kW.

The department detected numerous additional instances of power theft during their inspections.

NPCL said that the process of registering FIR against the people involved in power theft has been initiated and the cases are being reported to the anti-theft police stations in Gautam Budh Nagar for further action. The enforcement will be intensified in the coming days to check power theft in Greater Noida, officials said.