
Federal Minister for Energy Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari said on Thursday that power distribution companies (DISCOs) were responsible for electricity theft worth Rs591 billion.
During fiscal year 2023-24, 10 government-run DISCOs placed a burden of Rs591 billion on the country and taxpayers. "We have successfully reduced power theft from Rs591 billion to Rs399 billion," Leghari said while addressing a press conference.
He said that the Power Division had made significant progress in introducing reforms that resulted in improvement in the power sector, under the directives of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
"This is the first time in history that the government has reduced such losses through focused reforms," he added. Leghari stated that the government had already ensured transparency in appointing board members. He emphasised the need to inform the public about the scale and reasons of the losses DISCOs were facing.
"Had these losses not been suffered, the country could have paid off its debt, initiated development schemes in various areas and used taxpayers' money for national progress," the minister remarked, adding that the prime minister, the entire cabinet and the government's coalition partners were seriously concerned about the losses. Therefore, the government launched a campaign to cut losses and bring improvement in the power sector one year ago.
On the prime minister's instructions, the government took the initiative to implement positive governance reforms and ensure that appointments on boards and in companies were made on merit, rather than continuing the long-standing practice of hiring based on personal connections and political recommendations.
Owing to those reforms, he said, the government reduced losses from Rs591 billion to Rs399 billion – an objective achieved even before the targeted deadline. Despite facing challenges, the process of reforms will continue. Leghari pointed out that financial figures for the fiscal year ended June 30 were encouraging. He said that two major losses were discovered – the first being when electricity bills of companies could not be collected and the second were technical and non-technical (T&D) losses; when electricity was supplied by DISCOs but was not billed, which was essentially an electricity theft.
Out of the total losses of Rs591 billion, Rs315 billion was due to non-recovery of bills. The overall recovery rate of electricity bills was 92.4% last year, which jumped up to 96.6% this year, which was for the first time in history. However, power companies still failed to recover Rs132 billion in bills. He shared that Rs276 billion worth of electricity was stolen last year and DISCOs worked hard to reduce the losses. Some companies succeeded in reducing line losses, resulting in savings of Rs11 billion by curtailing electricity theft.
The minister also shared detailed performance of all distribution companies. He said that Lahore Electricity Supply Company (Lesco) performed particularly well and uncovered a massive electricity theft scandal. However, some influential people are now trying to launch inquiries against those who took action against electricity theft.
The prime minister, he said, is committed to supporting the officers and staff who are leading the battle for reforms and continuing their efforts to stop theft.
He highlighted the scale of the problem, noting that a single furnace-based industrial unit stole more electricity in a month than an entire village did in five years. In the past, action was mostly taken against small consumers, while large-scale theft went unnoticed. This year, he said, the focus would be on controlling large-scale losses and industrial theft, so that the progress made during the past year could continue.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ