The Hindu : New Delhi News : Hundreds of “unbilled power connections” unearthed

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Saturday, Jul 19, 2008
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Hundreds of “unbilled power connections” unearthed

Smriti Kak Ramachandran

“Were provided the connections during the pre-power privatisation era by DVB, DESU”

There is no record of these 3,200 meters
80 per cent of these are in residential areas

NEW DELHI: Power distribution company BSES has stumbled upon hundreds of residential and commercial set-ups in the Capital which have a meter and electricity but are not being charged for the power they consume.

There is no record of these households and commercial units -- totalling 3,200 -- that were provided connections during the pre-power privatisation era and so they are not in the billing net.

According to sources in the discom, these “untraceable” units came to light after a special drive to unearth them was launched in April: “There was a bit of sleuthing involved in unearthing these 3,200 units. There is no record of these meters and therefore there was no way that bills could be generated against them.”

Use of technology

The discom was, however, able to deduce that power was being supplied and consumed to some addresses which were not reflected in their records. “Through the use of technology we were able to assess that there was some pilferage and a huge energy loss. So we started an incentive scheme for our employees. For locating each of such connections, we paid them Rs.500,” said official source.

With over 3,000 such connections emerging, the company has paid its employees close to Rs.16 lakhs in awards.

“A massive manhunt to trace metered connections, which were unbilled for many years, was started. The result was the unearthing of 3,200 such connections, 80 per cent of which are in residential areas and the rest in commercial areas,” said sources.

“All these connections belong to the Delhi Vidyut Board and Delhi Electricity Supply Undertaking era. These meters were found installed in the most bizarre of places -- underneath a staircase, inside a bathroom, inside a bedroom, inside a garage. To unearth them we had to rely on modern analytic techniques,” said the sources.

Huge losses

“Since these connections were consuming huge amounts of electricity, cumulatively running into hundreds of KWs, BSES has incurred a huge loss. The electricity used by them is tantamount to power theft,” he said. While the company is yet to take a call on what penal action can be taken against these premises, bills will now be generated against them based on the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission guidelines.

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