Firms fined for power theft

In continuing drive against power thefts, many establishments, including advertising firms here, were booked and a penalty of Rs 9.59 lakh imposed on them by the Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL).

The erring firms included Môs Avinash Outdoor Advertisement Hoarding which had been found committing power theft by directly drawing power to one of their large advertisement hoarding near Hebbal fly-over in the city. A criminal case had been registered and penalty of Rs two lakh imposed, a KPTCL release said today.

Similarly M/s Site Screen World was caught for unauthorised use of power to their billboard in the city and a penalty of Rs 2.50 lakh imposed. Similarly two advertisement boards were caught for theft and misuse of power and a penalty of Rs 38,000 was imposed and criminal cases were booked.

M/s Ice Candy factory, Hassan was caught by the vigilance squad for committing power theft and a criminal case was booked and penalty of Rs 82,050 imposed. Similarly, a flour mill and a wine shop were also caught by the squad for committing power theft and total penalty of Rs 1,89,108 imposed and criminal cases booked against both installations.

A flour mill in Raichur was caught by the vigilance sleuths for committing power theft and a penalty of Rs 1,99,940 imposed. All these cases were booked on March 23.