MULTAN - Additional Chief Secretary South Punjab Fuad Hashim Rabbani ordered the departments and officials concerned to intensify crackdown on power pilferers in the region, falling under the Multan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) jurisdiction.
Under the government policy, instructions have been issued to seize the property of those who fail to pay MEPCO dues. A strategy has also been devised to vigorously pursue electricity theft cases in courts, with violators facing up to 10 years of imprisonment under the law.
A meeting in this regard was held at the South Punjab Secretariat, co-chaired by Additional Chief Secretary South Punjab, Fuad Hashim Rabbani, and Additional Inspector General of Police South Punjab, Muhammad Kamran Khan. Participants included Secretary Services Engineer Amjad Shoaib Khan Tareen, Bahawalpur Commissioner Dr. Nasir Mahmood Bashir, Multan Commissioner Maryam Khan, Bahawalpur Commissioner Nadir Chattha, Regional Police Officer (RPO) Multan Muhammad Sohail Chaudhry, and FIA officials. RPOs from Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan joined the meeting via video-link. MEPCO Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jam Gul Muhammad Zahid briefed the meeting.
Addressing the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary South Punjab Fuad Hashim Rabbani said that the Federal Government has issued strict orders to crackdown on elements involve in electricity theft. He highlighted that electricity theft increases line losses, burdening regular consumers, and the resulting rise in electricity bills offsets the government’s efforts to reduce inflation. Additional IG Police South Punjab, Muhammad Kamran Khan, stated that police have been instructed to register FIRs immediately upon receiving complaints against electricity thieves, and special force have been assigned for raids. DG Khan Commissioner Dr. Nasir Mahmood Bashir emphasized the need for MEPCO to provide complete data on electricity thieves for revenue actions. Multan Commissioner Maryam Khan assured that MEPCO has full support from the administration in the Multan division.
Bahawalpur Commissioner Nadir Chattha said that 90 percent of electricity thieves in the Bahawalpur division have been arrested, noting the need for out-of-the-box solutions to curb electricity theft.
CEO MEPCO, Jam Gul Muhammad Zahid, briefed the meeting, stating that MEPCO’s line losses stand at 15.2 percent. Over the past year, action has been taken against 40,869 people involve in electricity theft in the MEPCO region, with FIRs registered against 39,900 and 31,536 were arrested. He further informed that fines amounting to Rs. 2.626 billion have been imposed on electricity thieves, of which Rs. 1.699 billion has been recovered so far.