HYDERABAD: Power theft seems to have become a regular phenomenon in the city. Despite efforts being made by the government, including the installation of tamper-proof metres, power theft has become so rampant that the power vigilance team has been conducting checks in the households on a daily basis with the hope to curb the menace.
P. Nagabhushan, circle inspector, power vigilance team, central zone, said, “We have a team comprising of 28 assistant engineers, 9 assistant divisional engineers and 3 divisional engineers. We allot about 20 to 30 houses to each of the assistant engineers of our team to go and do the checking.”
He further added, “There are two ways by which people resort to power theft. Either they directly tamper with the sanctioned meter by breaking the seal or tampering the reading and then sealing it back again or they directly tap into the power source point. This they do by attaching wires to the main power wire in the area and then attaching it to the appliances in their house. This form of theft is generally seen in slum areas.”
When asked about the punishment given to the people who are caught for power theft, P. Nagabhushan, said, “According to Indian Electricity Act of 2003 Section 135, people who are caught for power theft for the first time, as per the theft of power the amount would be calculated and they have to pay three times the amount and if they are caught for the second time, they have to pay six times the amount and then they would also be jailed starting from six months to 5 years based on the decision of the court.”
On an average, the central zone power vigilance team gets 215 to 220 cases of power theft. “In my zone areas of Medhipatnam, Lange House, Shaikpet and Golconda, we get more power theft cases,” said P. Nagabhushan.
