200 residents in Gurgaon fined Rs 2.5cr for power theft

Gurgaon: To recover losses due to power theft in Gurgaon, DHBVN has imposed fines of Rs 2.5 crore on more than 200 home owners recently caught indulging in energy pilferage. The move comes after the state power minister recently expressed concerns over the line-losses in the state and directed discom officials to tighten the noose around the thieves.
Officials said the 200 theft cases were detected by the discom during multiple raids across the city. While some homes were found without electricity meters, others were caught using underhand tactics like tampering and bypassing the electricity meter. “Raids are being carried out against electricity thieves in all sub-divisions. Losses are increasing due to power thefts,” said a senior DHBVN official.
The discom detected 32 cases of electricity theft in Badshapur division. An estimated penalty of Rs 55 lakh was imposed on owners of 32 homes in villages where 24-hour power has been promised by the government. In Maruti sub-division, overall 190 KW of line-losses have been identified and over Rs 51 lakh penalty has been imposed. In Sohna, Rs 42 lakh was imposed on 32 owners. “Though we are much better off compared to other districts in terms of line-losses, it still is a menace that not only impacts our power distribution potential, but also leads to heavy losses every year. We try to pull up such offenders from time to time so consumers get 24-hour power supply,” said a DHBVN official.