Punishing power pilferers
Efforts to address losses in the power sector are finally getting some teeth. The government’s recent move to make electricity theft a cognisable offence will hopefully make it harder for power pilferers to avoid significant punishment for their illegal actions. The ordinance promulgated by President Arif Alvi amends the PPC clause about the energy-related crimes to allow senior officials from power distribution companies to file criminal cases against power thieves. Earlier, that power was restricted to bureaucrats of grade 17 or above and, in practice, was only exercised by police officers and rarely by assistant commissioners and district commissioners. This significantly slowed down the process of going after power thieves because it required involving bureaucrats at very early stages of investigations, which meant adding miles of red tape before the real work started.
How big a dent the ordinance will make into the almost Rs600 billion worth of power theft remains to be seen, but there have been some positive signs since the government announced its anti-power theft push in September. Almost 20,000 alleged power thieves had been arrested between September and November, and that figure will rise now that charging suspects has become easier. Given the smaller size of the caretaker set-up, it is also unlikely that elements within the government will attempt to sabotage the effort out of some unscrupulous interest. Fortunately, cases of large-scale power theft by parliamentarians are relatively rare, so it is hoped that if the caretakers can build some momentum, their successors should make sure to carry it forward. In fact, replacing the ordinance with an act of parliament should be among the first things the next elected government does, since power theft is one of the few issues that almost all voters can agree needs to be addressed.
On a broader note, improving collection from the power sector will also help law-abiding citizens, as losses attributable to power theft are usually covered by raising tariffs, which forces honest customers to pay more.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 16th, 2023.
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