Inspector General of Police (I.G) Punjab Dr. Usman Anwar as directed by Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz electricity The crackdown on thieves has intensified.
Interpreter Punjab Police According to the statistics provided by , during the first seven months of this year, 61 thousand 583 cases were registered against electricity thieves across Punjab.
According to the spokesman of the Punjab Police, ’32 thousand 733 suspects found involved in electricity theft across the province were arrested by the police.’
Similarly, more than 37 thousand 629 cases of electricity theft were completed while 5055 accused who caused damage to the national treasury by stealing electricity were punished and fined.
Talking about Lahore, according to the spokesperson of Punjab Police, 18 thousand one hundred and 56 cases were registered in the provincial capital and 17 thousand seven hundred and 96 accused were arrested.
According to IG Punjab Usman Anwar, police teams in every district, including Lahore, are providing support in the ongoing campaign against electricity thieves, while IG Punjab also instructed the police personnel in all districts to intensify the crackdown against electricity thieves. has been released.
IG Punjab says that actions will be continued without discrimination with ‘zero tolerance’ against the accused who caused damage to the country’s exchequer.
What does the law say for electricity thieves?
Speaking to Independent Urdu, Advocate Ahmar Majeed said that there are laws, most of them are individual FIRs, while amendments have also been made in this law, according to which now from 2023, the police will be charged in cases of electricity theft. She goes to the spot and arrests the thief and registers a case.’
Advocate Ahmar added: ‘Over time, the law has been tightened, meaning that if an electricity thief is arrested, bail is not granted quickly and bail is granted only when they are received by WAPDA. Will pay the electricity bill.’
According to Ahmar, WAPDA also abuses a bit because they do not have any mechanism to tell when electricity is being stolen. “If someone has tampered with their meter, they will give them a huge bill or even ask for a bribe.”
He said that the imprisonment is less but the fine is high and the bill must be paid and it is difficult to get a waiver.
What do the laws say?
As per Section 462J of the Pakistan Penal Code September 2023 amendments, interference, misuse or tampering with electricity meter by domestic consumers, connecting the electricity meter to any electric line through which electricity is supplied by the licensee. performed or unauthorized re-connection of any electric meter to any electric line or other, including
Reversing transformer, loop connection or any other device or method, contrivance or artificial means which interferes with the correct or proper are also included as per the section.
A tariff uses energy supplied by a licensee in one way. for which a higher tariff is in force or uses the energy supplied by the licensee in a manner detrimental to the conservation or efficient working of the electric supply line or deals with it in such a manner as to cause the loss of energy to other consumers, or persons; Interfering with the effective delivery of
According to section 462 K regarding tampering with commercial meters, if this is all happening with commercial meters, the law punishes the offender with imprisonment for three years, a fine of Rs.60 lakh or both.
What are the methods of electricity theft?
A senior LESCO official said on condition of anonymity: ‘Power theft is a science and there are different ways to steal power, there is no one way.
This section contains related reference points (Related Nodes field).
According to the said officer, direct supply called kanda dalna is common.
According to him, the rural areas like Kasur, Okara, Sheikhupura, Muridke, Ravi river belt, the trend here is direct supply.
“As you get into the cities, the Kanda system becomes less and less because the system is visible, so in the cities electricity is stolen by technical means such as reversing the meter or installing bogus meters.” That is, a theft that is not caught immediately, but when our team investigates, that theft will come to light.
The said officer also said that whether the electricity is domestic or commercial, the meter looks the same and therefore the theft is the same.
He further said that when electricity theft is caught, an FIR is also filed against the consumer and a fine is also imposed and their electricity supply is also cut off.
is done
“Nepra has laid down some SOPs on how to charge the electricity bill which is at least three months’ bill or six months’ if someone is caught stealing from direct supply. which is charged.
If the meter is reverse caught or the electricity is stolen in any other way then how much they have to charge the bill i.e. the bill is charged according to the method of electricity theft, the calculation is in the form of units and it is in the form of the bill. Let the consumer pay this bill to play the electricity supply line.’
When we asked the said officer if there were any fights with power thieves, he replied: ‘It happens everywhere, like if a team goes to a remote village, it The religion of this team is that he should come back and report all the thefts or else he should catch ten but come to the office and report eight thefts. There are no cameras attached to the team here.’
#thousand #cases #registered #electricity #thieves #Punjab #Police
2024-07-31 08:25:04