ISLAMABAD-The ongoing anti power-theft campaign has negligible impact on electricity theft collections, as out of the total recoveries of Rs 38 billion, the collections on account of theft were just around Rs 1.3 billion.
In the ongoing anti power-theft campaign, 18279 people have been arrested from September 7 till October 19.
“Total estimated financial impact has been Rs 38 billion, including the second order impact on theft and recovery of billed amounts during the month of September but not October which can only be known after the closing of accounts for the month of October,” said Secretary Power Division Rashid Langriyal here.
In October alone, almost Rs 12 billion were collected via detection and arrears, while in September the recoveries were Rs 26 billion, said the secretary.
From September 7 to 30th, a total of 10,010 people were arrested, Rs 14 billion were collected through detection and recovery, while only 53 employees of Discos were suspended. No employee has been removed from job on account of the involvement in theft.
Since the start of the anti-theft campaign, 18279 people have been arrested which includes 10,010 in September and 8269 in the first 19 days of October.
During the campaign, the recoveries were lowest in Islamabad Electric Supply Company with only Rs 181 million, while Lahore Electric Supply Company emerged as the highest collector with Rs 3.044 billion.
In October LESCO was on the top of all the Discos in terms of arrests and recoveries. Total 3597 people were arrested while Rs 3.044 billion have been recovered.
Peshawar Electric Supply Company(Pesco) recovered Rs 2.844 billion and arrested 1068 people. Hyderabad Electric Supply Company and Sukkur Electric Power Company have recovered Rs 2.506 billion and Rs 1.536 billion respectively. The number of arrested people in HESCO were 17, which is the lowest, while in SEPCO 73 people were arrested.
In Multan Electric Power Company, 1464 people have been arrested, while Rs 824 million were recovered. In Quetta Electric Supply Company, 31 people were arrested and Rs 436 million have been recovered. In Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), 1063 people were arrested and Rs 296 million were recovered. In Gujranwala Electric Power Company, 800 people have been arrested while Rs 204 have been recovered.
In Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), the recoveries were the lowest during October as only Rs 181 million have been recovered, while 123 people have been arrested.
The direct impact on account of theft recoveries was negligible and till October 16, an amount of Rs 1.244 billion was recovered in this regard, official documents revealed. However, Secretary Power claims that the campaign has resulted in a reduction of Rs 5 billion in theft on month on month basis in September.