Diwali is over but the city may see fireworks over power theft. A month-long scheme encouraging people to disclose tampered meters has got only 811 confessions, and distcoms say they may start raids if "power thieves" don't turn up by November end.
The month-long voluntary scheme began on November 1. The three distcoms estimate that one in every two meters in the city — or 15 lakh meters — have been tampered with.
The BSES, which has 21 lakh consumers, got 680 applications for the scheme till Thursday. Of these, 70 per cent are domestic consumers. The NDPL, which has 8.5 lakh consumers, has 131 applications. Of these, 60 per cent are industrial and commercial consumers.
The companies say they will step up awareness campaigns from Friday to tell people that the scheme is their last chance to come clean. The punishment for power theft is a bill for 36 months and/or up to three years jail.
"We expect lakhs of consumers to make use of this chance," said a BSES spokesperson. The NDPL has even asked its employees who live in north Delhi to give a certificate that their meters are legal. "No power thief will be spared after November 30," said a NDPL spokesperson.
RWAs say the scheme was wrongly-timed as people were busy with festivals. "People also feel old meters will be replaced with electronic ones, which they think are unreliable," said V.C. Tandon of the Delhi Joint Front of RWAs.
{{/usCountry}}RWAs say the scheme was wrongly-timed as people were busy with festivals. "People also feel old meters will be replaced with electronic ones, which they think are unreliable," said V.C. Tandon of the Delhi Joint Front of RWAs.
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Grim scene
Power theft: About 45%
** Of this, 20% is technical loss.
** The rest is commercial loss caused by theft or tampered, faulty meters.
** Each percentage of loss costs over Rs 80 crore
** Broken seals, covers, glass case; improper connections means meters tampered with