KARACHI, Nov 2: The cash-strapped Karachi Electric Supply Corporation has paid Rs18.633 million to the army monitoring teams over the past 15 months, Dawn learnt here on Friday.
Official sources said under an agreement the KESC paid five per cent of the amount recovered under the head of supplementary bills to the army monitoring teams, which accompanied KESC officials during raids on residential, commercial and industrial units suspected of pilfering power.
Dawn has it on good authority that the KESC issued supplementary bills to the tune of Rs966.7m over the past 15 months. The amount recovered under the head of the supplementary bills is Rs372.653m. Under the agreement, the KESC paid five per cent of the amount — Rs18.633m — to the 550-strong army monitoring teams.
Under the Electricity Act of 1910, the KESC is authorized to take punitive action against those who indulge in wilful power theft. Section 26-A of the Act, titled “Dishonest abstraction or consumption of energy,” says: “Notwithstanding anything contained in Section 23, the licensee may charge the consumer on the basis of one or more of the following considerations for the amount of energy deemed to have been dishonestly abstracted, consumed or used for the period during which the meter, maximum demand indicator or other measuring apparatus had, in the opinion of the licensee, remained connected, disconnected, injured, altered or prevented from registering the amount of energy supplied or the electrical quantity contained in the supply:
(a) consumer’s connected load or maximum demand in kilowatt during any period;
(b) consumer’s maximum consumption of energy in kilowatt-hours during any period;
(c) consumer’s load factor;
(d) the power factor of consumer’s load;
(e) the hours and the time for which the energy is deemed to have been abstracted, consumed or used by the consumer; and
(f) the purpose for which energy is deemed to have been abstracted, consumed or used by the consumer.”
Previously, by invoking this section of the Electricity Act of 1910 bills were worked out for at least three years. They were referred to as supplementary bills.
A spokesman for the KESC told Dawn that now the period had been reduced to three months for residential and commercial consumers and six months for industrial consumers.
He added that in case of glaring power theft the maximum punishment of three years was applied.
The detractors of the army monitoring teams, however, allege that the amount spent on the servicemen is comparable, if not equal, to the amount recovered by them. They insist that if the same amount is given as a monetary incentive to KESC officials, they could do a better job in eliminating power theft. They say the army monitoring teams are given allowance for petrol required to run their vehicles.
A high-ranking official of the KESC told Dawn on condition of anonymity that there was a lot of resentment among the KESC officials, especially those belonging to the lower cadres, against the army in the power utility.
He added that one of the avowed goals of the army in the KESC was to get the government departments to pay the outstanding dues. “The army has failed to do even that,” he said.
