ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s caretaker administration said on Wednesday it was setting up special task forces on provincial and district levels to combat massive electricity theft as the country grapples with a significant revenue shortfall of Rs589 billion ($1.9 billion) in the power sector annually.
The problem, which is more rampant in certain areas of the country than others, has forced successive governments to raise power tariffs in Pakistan.
Due to the widespread protests over inflated electricity bills and rising petroleum prices in recent days, however, the interim administration decided to take the issue head-on to rationalize power tariffs by minimizing its financial losses.
“We got the prime minister’s instructions to crack down on this, reduce the theft of electricity and recover revenue from those who do not pay the bills,” the country’s energy minister, Muhammad Ali, told reporters during a media briefing in Islamabad.
“We will establish a provincial-level task force, with the provincial secretary of energy or the home secretary leading it,” he continued. “At the divisional level, a task force will be formed under the commissioner’s leadership, and at the district level, the deputy commissioner will head it and at the sub-district level, the assistant commissioner will be in charge, whereas we will oversee all these activities from Islamabad.”
He said there were different levels of theft and recovery in different parts of Pakistan.
“The total loss due to theft or not receiving the bills during one year is Rs589 billion,” the minister added.
“We have all the data of the areas where electricity theft is more and we will pay greater attention to them and launch a crackdown to reduce the losses,” he continued.
Ali said the government had devised a strategy to deal with power theft.
“The areas where the theft of electricity is less – some 15 to 30 percent – we will intervene by using technology and rely on smart metering and other solutions,” he informed.
However, it would launch a proper enforcement mechanism at places where these losses exceed 60 percent.
At the same time, he noted that the government had made a list of those officers involved in the theft of electricity and would transfer them to other areas.
“We are working on an electricity theft control act and will establish an elaborate enforcement infrastructure in the country,” said the minister.
He informed the government also planned to set up special courts that would deal with complaints and punishments related to power theft in the country.
“Our target is to finalize the law in the next two to three weeks, move it forward, and send this ordinance for approval,” he added.
