Nationwide crackdown on electricity theft yields Rs118 billion and 85,000 arrests
Shopkeepers have put generators on a street during an electricity breakdown in the Jama Cloth Market area on Tuesday. The cables carrying 220 volts coiling over a bike and passing above the heads of pedestrians in a precarious manner amid sporadic light rain pose a serious threat to life and property. PHOTO JALAL QURESHI/ EXPRESS
In an ongoing nationwide crackdown against electricity theft, authorities have successfully recovered more than Rs118 billion, with over 85,000 individuals arrested across the country.
The government's efforts, aimed at reviving the economy and alleviating the energy crisis, have intensified, with significant results being reported.
So far, a total of Rs118.93 billion has been retrieved, and 85,330 electricity thieves have been apprehended.
This week, authorities in cities such as Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Islamabad, Multan, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Quetta, and others collected over Rs3 billion from electricity defaulters.
During the current week of September, 687 electricity thieves were arrested, demonstrating the government’s commitment to eradicating electricity theft. The operation will continue until the complete elimination of the issue across the country, authorities confirmed.
On Tuesday, despite increasing electricity prices up to 51% in July, the government projected that the power sector's circular debt could jump to a new record high of Rs2.8 trillion by the end of current fiscal year without any injection of budgetary subsidies.
Ministry of Energy sources told The Express Tribune that the gross addition to the circular debt had been estimated at Rs417 billion for fiscal year 2024-25 in spite of raising power tariffs from July.
The circular debt stood at Rs2.383 trillion by June this year, already higher than the commitment given to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and more than the threshold approved by the federal cabinet last year under the Circular Debt Management Plan 2023-24.
After adding an estimated Rs417 billion, the debt will jump to Rs2.8 trillion by taking into account the power sector losses and inefficiencies.
Sources said that under an understanding reached with the IMF, the government would provide Rs381 billion in subsidies from the budget. This will restrict the debt to Rs2.42 trillion by June next year.
The Power Division, however, has a poor record of achieving end-June debt reduction targets, set by the IMF and the cabinet.
Power Secretary Dr Muhammad Fakhre Alam did not respond to a request for comment on the new targets.
Last year, the bureaucracy seemed to be focused more on launching campaigns rather than bringing about real improvement in the energy sector. The World Bank and IMF-dictated energy policies and the government's failure to stem theft and losses have resulted in a situation where neither the debt is eliminated nor the electricity remains affordable.
The average per-unit electricity now costs around Rs64 to Rs72 for residential and commercial consumers after including all taxes and surcharges.
Earlier this month, it was reported that prolonged power outages and electricity theft in neighbouring areas exacerbated the miseries of people living in North Karachi.
Almost 12 hours of load shedding throughout the day in most areas of New Karachi made the life of the residents of the area miserable, said the residents of New Karachi Sector 5F Rajput Colony.
Farooq Khan, Muhammad Tariq and Babar while talking to The Express Tribune said that power cuts occur from 7am to 8:30am; 9:30am to 12pm; 2:3 pm to 5pm, and from 7pm to 10:30pm and then from 12:30am to 1:30am and sometimes the power supply is suspended from 8am to 10pm, they said.