Electricity supply: K-Electric, police to go after power thieves

The electricity utility deadline to clear all dues ends today.

KARACHI: K-Electric (K-E) and the police have joined hands to launch a drive against customers stealing electricity from their grid.

The deadline to clear all electricity dues ends today (Friday), said the K-E spokesperson. Now the K-E team, which includes their own police team, and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) personnel will start full-fledged action against power thieves and defaulters. They are calling this drive, Operation Burq.

The electricity utility has established a system in which they maintain announced load-shedding schedules by declaring specific feeders and poll-mounted transmitters (PMTS) as loss feeders or high-loss feeders. "If we are successful in our drive, there will definitely be no feeder left, which could be declared as high-loss or very-high-loss due to unpaid dues" said the K-E spokesperson, adding that this will eventually reduce load-shedding across the city.

The spokesperson explained that electricity theft is a non-bailable offence and offenders involved in such acts will face severe penalties, which may include imprisonment of up to three years, a fine of Rs10 million and property confiscation, under the Inland Revenue Act.

"We are getting ready to pounce on such culprits who are present in most pockets of this city," he said. "We want them to know that we are serious about this and after the amnesty ends, there will be no going back for such people."



The operation is city-wide and we will not discriminate, said the spokesperson. "If any commercial, business, industry or government institution is found guilty, we will deal with them through the anti-theft laws."

The K-E and the FIA have shared a list of thieves among them, said the K-E spokesperson, adding that their actions will vary depending on the amount the defaulter owes. For example, they can ask the defaulters to pay the dues in instalments that will be added every month to their bill. The spokesperson added that K-E is committed to continue this operation without showing any disparity to the strong and the powerful.

According to a K-Electric press release issued on Thursday, FIA officials also met to discuss the campaign against electricity theft and Operation Burq. FIA director Shahid Hayat Khan acknowledged and appreciated KE's campaign against electricity defaulters and thieves across the city, the press release added.

Meanwhile, the FIA director also assured full support to K-E after May 15. According to a K-E press release, this move is initiated in accordance with the directives of the prime minister to curb the menace of electricity theft and the addition of Section 39 of the Electricity Act 1910 to FIA's schedule of offences.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2015.