The Hindu : New Delhi News : NDPL's drive detects massive power theft

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 08, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

NDPL's drive detects massive power theft

Staff Reporter

94 consumers booked and penalties totalling Rs.1.90 crore imposed

NEW DELHI: In extensive raids carried out during the week, the enforcement wing of North Delhi Power Limited (NDPL) booked 94 consumers allegedly stealing 720 KW of power and levied penalties totalling Rs. 1.90 crores.

During the drive, 22 big domestic consumers in the posh colonies of Rajouri Garden, Kirti Nagar, Raja Garden, Model Town, Mukherjee Nagar and Shakti Nagar were allegedly caught stealing power either by hooking or tampering their meters. The biggest case that came to light was of a three-storey building in Sidhipura Shakti Nagar where the user had installed eight air-conditioners and was drawing a load of 30 kW against a sanctioned load of 11 KW. The consumer had broken the meter box and tampered with the seals. He has been booked under Dishonest Abstraction of Energy (DAE) and charged with a penalty of Rs. 2.50 lakhs.

Another big catch was a resident of A-Block, Kirti Nagar, where a consumer was illegally drawing nearly more than four times his sanctioned load of 6 kW, having installed six air-conditioners and paying only 50 per cent of his bill. He had tampered with his meter that was found to be running 56 per cent slow. A penalty of Rs. 1.80 lakhs was slapped on him.

Among the other alleged offenders are a few well-known industrialists and commercial establishments. The enforcement team cracked down on a well-known zarda manufacturer, Prabhat Zarda Factory, who had broken the meter box and slowed his meter. The factory drawing a load of 90 KW is likely to face a penalty of around Rs. 19 lakhs. The owner of Bikaner Sweets Shop in Model Town has been booked on the charge of tampering with his four meters.

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