AT&C losses come down by 10 % between 2002-03 and 2011-12

The Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses at the national level have been reduced from 36.64% in 2002-03 to 27% in 2011-12. Similarly, Transmission and Distribution (T&D) losses in the country for the year 2011-12 have come down to 23.65% from 23.97% in 2010-11 and 25.39% in 2009-10.

To reduce the AT&C losses, the Government of India has launched the Re-structured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (R-APDRP), and this project is taken up in two parts in towns having population of more than 30,000 (10,000 in case of special category States). Part A is for establishing IT enabled system for energy accounting / auditing and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) for big cities whereas Part B is for up-gradation, augmentation & strengthening of electrical infrastructure in project towns.

So far, under R-APDRP, projects worth Rs.37189.82 crore (Part A: Rs 6808.36 crore covering 1398 towns and 70 SCADA projects in 70 towns; Part B: Rs. 30381.46 crore in 1229 towns) have been sanctioned.

To enable effective control of theft of electricity, the Electricity Act, 2003 has incorporated specific provisions for detection of theft, speedy trial of theft related offences and also for recovery of the charges of electricity stolen. Ministry of Power has amended Section 135 and Section 151 of the Electricity Act, 2003 through the Electricity (Amendment) Act, 2007, making the offence punishable under Section 135-140 and Section 150 as cognizable and non-bailable.

Energy losses occur due to technical and commercial reasons in the process of supplying electricity to consumers. The technical losses are due to energy dissipated in the conductors and equipment used for transmission, transformation, sub-transmission and distribution of power and can be reduced only to a limited extent. T&D losses of India are relatively higher as compared to T&D losses in the other developed countries in the world, as per the World Development Indicators of the World Bank.

The commercial losses are due to pilferage, defective meters, errors in meter reading and billing and in estimating unmetered supply of energy and inefficiency in collection of bills, which are called as Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses.

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