Courts penalising power theft has cut discom losses: BSES

The national capital's power utility BSES on Tuesday said the discoms have been able to drastically cut transmission losses by coming down heavily on the menace of power theft.

Special courts, in three separate judgements, have penalised and sentenced to rigorous imprisonment Delhi residents for indulging in power theft, an official said.

"Power theft has taken the shape of organised crime and it impacts the honest consumers the most. This sentiment is reflected in three separate and recent judgements on power theft," a BSES spokesperson said.

"Special Court of Electricity, Saket, has sentenced three South Delhi residents, including owners of a junkyard and a meat shop, to rigorous imprisonment (RI) ranging from three to six months," he added.

Providing details, BSES said in a statement here that in the first case, a resident of Sangam Vihar in south Delhi has been awarded rigorous imprisonment of six months and a penalty of Rs 2.54 lakh. In the second case, a resident of Madanpur Khadar in south Delhi has also been awarded rigorous imprisonment of six months and a penalty of Rs 2.65 lakh.

In the third case, an owner of a meat shop in Dakshinpuri Extension, has been awarded rigorous imprisonment of three months and a penalty of Rs 2.2 lakh.

"In another case, two transformer thieves in East Delhi were convicted by the Special Court of Electricity, Karkardooma, for stealing a BSES transformer in Radha Vihar, Mandoli Industrial Area," BSES said.

"Power theft is a social menace, which impacts the honest consumers. Since 2002, BSES discoms have managed to reduce AT & C losses from over 55 per cent to under 15 per cent by coming down heavily on power theft," the statement added.

--IANS

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