Maha govt mulls making public names of electricity thieves

The Maharashtra government will consider the idea of making public the names of people, who indulge in electricity thefts, state Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said here today.
Conceding that power thefts were taking place on a large scale in the distribution network of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL), the minister said, "We will think about making public the names the persons involved in power thefts."
He added that due to the steps taken by the government, the percentage of power thefts has reduced.
"The government has taken several measures, due to which power thefts have come down to 18 per cent from 35 per cent. It will further reduce to 10 per cent within a year," Bawankule said.

The minister was speaking to reporters after his visit to the famous Saibaba temple here.
"Earlier, there were six dedicated police stations of MSEDCL that were authorised to handle cases of power thefts. But now, the government has given the authority to all the police stations across the state to register and probe the electricity theft cases," he said.

"Besides, the electricity distribution utility has installed power meters on the transformers so that it gets information about where the power thefts are taking place and based on that action is taken against the offenders," Bawankule added.
Talking about load shedding, the minister said, "Load shedding will be linked to the power supply and bill recovery in that particular area.

"For example, if the bill recovery in any particular area is only 70 per cent, it will face a four-hour power shutdown. Similarly, if it is 60 per cent, then load-shedding will be for eight hours. This will be done online," he said.
The MSEDCL has also developed a mobile app, through which people can inform about the power thefts happening anywhere. "People can even pay the electricity bills through it. They can upload a photo of their meter (showing the consumption of units), and accordingly, a bill will be generated," he said.
The minister also said that the work of laying underground electricity cables in Shirdi town would begin soon.