Border sub-divisions burn ₹552-cr hole in PSPCL pocket

Account for around 50% of power theft in state; the power corporation loses ₹1,200 crore to pilferage

PATIALA: Bhikhiwind, Patti and Zira, the border sub-divisions of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL), are the top defaulters when it comes to power theft that caused a loss of over ₹1,200 crore to Punjab in the 2021-22 fiscal.

Border sub-divisions account for 44% (₹552 crore) of the total power theft in the state. These include Bhikhiwind ₹115 crore, Patti ₹110 crore, Zira ₹90 crore, Tarn Taran City ₹54 crore, Ajnala ₹52 crore, sub-urban Tarn Taran ₹27 crore and Urban Ferozepur ₹25 crore.

According to the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission annual revenue requirement (ARR) for the current financial year, there are around 400 feeders in the state where power losses are more than 50% and the border belt, with about 160 feeders, being the top defaulter.

These include 14 feeders with more than 90% losses and 27 feeders with losses between 80% and 90%.

According to officials, 20 subdivisions of the PSPCL indulged in ₹1,000-crore power theft, or 83%, against the overall theft of approximately ₹1,200 crore in the state. There are 100 divisions and 500 sub-divisions of the PSPCL.

In Bhikhiwind and Patti, power theft is rampant in urban as well as in rural areas, say officials. In Zira division, which is third on the chart with ₹90 crore power theft, pilferage is more in urban areas. Officials said top defaulters in rural areas are consumers from Bhikhiwind, Patti, Tarn Taran city, Rampura Phul, and Bhagta Bhai Ka. The revenue loss in these five sub-divisions varies between ₹25 crore and ₹100 crore.

The top five defaulter divisions in the urban areas are Zira, Jalalabad, West Amritsar, Baghapurana and Ajnala. The revenue loss from these sub-divisions varies between ₹25 and Rs 80 crore each, said officials.

Of total revenue loss of Rs 1,200 crore due to power theft in Punjab, urban areas account for ₹700 crore and rural ₹500 crore, according to officials.

In the run up to Punjab assembly elections, power theft jumped by 10% last year.

Last week, the PSEB Engineers Association asked the Punjab power minister Harbhajan

Singh to launch a drive against power theft so the PSPCL could cut down on its losses.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann has also given instructions to the PSPCL to take strict action against those indulging in power theft.

PSPCL imposes ₹88-lakh fine on 584 consumers

In a campaign against power theft, the PSPCL conducted massive checking across the state on May 13 and 14.

A PSPCL spokesman said that enforcement squads checked 3,035 power connections relating to high losses feeders in different areas of the state. Of these, 120 power theft cases and 464 other irregularities/violations were detected.

The defaulters were fined ₹ 88.18 lakh, he said.

During the checking of Dera Sarhala near Jentipur under Udoke subdivision (Amritsar), it was found that the entire load of 29 kW was running directly bypassing the meter through a cable from a 25 kVA transformer installed outside the camp.

The consumer has been fined ₹ 5.12 lakh for power theft, the spokesman said.

The enforcement team also checked Dera Baba Lal Singh Bhai Roopa (Rampura Phul) and detected a power theft through a PVC cable directly from the transformer installed on the roadside. An FIR has been registered.