Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd (AEML), in a release, said that the utility registered as many as 386 FIRs for power theft in FY22, a significant 175 per cent higher than the comparable number in FY21.
AEML noted that this highly intensified crackdown against power theft and irregularities helped bring down the utility’s AT&C losses from 7.82 per cent in FY21 to 6.55 per cent in FY22.
Burden on honest consumer
An Adani Electricity spokesperson said, “There are certain pockets of city where menace of power theft is rampant and ever since Adani Electricity has taken over Mumbai’s power distribution business in 2018, it is acting tough against those involved in power theft. Power theft puts tariff burden on honest and paying consumers and this situation is not acceptable to us as a preferred utility of Mumbai electricity consumers.”
Adani Group took over Mumbai’s electricity distribution business in 2018 and has ever since has waged a war against power theft and pilferage as it is not only a criminal offence but also a social offence.
Crackdown in FY22
AEML conducted 10,458 mass raids against power thefts in FY22 as against 6,694 in FY21. The quantum of illegal wires seized during the raids stood at 75.577 tonnes in FY22, almost twice the corresponding 39.257 tonnes in FY21. The assessed theft of electricity in FY22 stood at 14.82 million kwh as against just 4.09 million kwh in FY21. (See table)
Read more: AEML Wins IMC RBNQ Performance Excellence Award 2021
Non-bailable offence
Stealing electricity is a non-bailable offence. Under Section 135 of the Electricity Act 2003, the offender can be punished with a fine, a jail term of up to three years, or both, once proven guilty. Adani Electricity’s vigilance and enforcement teams have been diligently conducting regular mass raids with assistance from police authorities to book offenders and impound equipment used in power pilferage, the release said.
Burden on infrastructure
The power demand in certain slum clusters is already high, and new network development is not feasible due to acute space constraints. Power theft overloads the network. This increases the cost of servicing as cables and transformers are more prone to failures, adding to a surge in repair and maintenance costs.
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