Posh areas guilty of major power theft

KOLKATA: Slum dwellers tapping all the power is nothing short of an urban myth. City power utility CESC, in a shocking admission, revealed that much of the electricity theft in the city has been detected in posh localities.
Recent raids by CESC revealed that most of the power stolen by domestic consumers in Kolkata occurs in upmarket residential areas like Park Street, Shakespeare Sarani, Alipore and New Alipore.But CESC is reluctant to disclose names of the high-profile power thieves.
Deterrent punishment against power theft, which now provides for imprisonment up to five years and fine up to Rs 50,000, has cut little ice in the city. Not a single conviction has so far been reported under the Indian Electricity (West Bengal Amendment) Act and nobody seems to have a clue about the status of the prosecution cases.
The Act, which designates power theft as a non-bailable offence, came into force on July 15 this year and puts the onus on the person arrested for power theft to prove himself innocent.
"There has been a spurt in the installation of airconditioners. Since consumers are concerned about increased power bills, electricians often approach them saying that they would bypass the meters. We have caught several such people," a senior CESC official said.
However, even after arrests, conviction is difficult. The new law had provided for special courts for exclusively hearing power theft cases and the setting up of an Electricity Utility Protection Force to help utilities crack down on theft.
None of these have been set up as yet. "Since the cases are being heard in regular courts, they are being subject to the usual delays," the official said. "We have asked the high court to designate courts for hearing power theft cases but it is yet to take a decision," state law minister Nishith Adhikari said.
Since the law came into force, joint raids by CESC and the police have resulted in the disconnection of power supply to 4,112 meters for tampering. A total of 19,183 hookings have been removed. The total number of FIRs lodged stand at 2,417, against which 273 arrests were made.
"The actual arrests are less as many persons have more than one meter to their names," the official said. Almost two-thirds of those arrested are industrial consumers, while 18 per cent are commercial consumers.
The law, however, has helped the CESC to cut down its transmission and distribution losses, to which power theft is a major contributor. In October this year, CESC''s T&D losses was 19.2 per cent, down from 22.31 per cent in October 2001. According to the Supreme Court ruling, this has to be brought down to 17.5 per cent.