RAWALPINDI: Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (Iesco) teams have collected fines amounting to Rs7.43 million from 96 electricity thieves in the region during Ramazan and Eidul Fitr holidays.

As many as 23 people involved in power theft were also apprehended.

Iesco Chief Executive Officer Dr Mohammad Amjad Khan, in a briefing, said Iesco’s detection teams continued crackdown against power pilferers even during Ramazan and Eid holidays, adding that following the directions of the government and the ministry of energy power division, all formations had been working tirelessly to eliminate power theft from the Iesco region.

Mr Khan said during this period, detection teams checked more than 45,000 electricity meters of different tariffs and found that 89 customers were using direct power supply and seven meters were tampered with.

He further said fines to the tune of Rs7.4 million were imposed on power pilferers, 51 FIRs registered and 23 electricity thieves arrested.

The Iesco chief said since the start of the operation, their detection teams had imposed fines of more than Rs572.170 million on more than 13,000 electricity thieves, while more than 1,000 have been arrested.

Mr Khan reiterated his determination to pursue a zero-tolerance policy against power thieves as instructed by the prime minister and Energy Minister Sardar Owais Ahmad Leghari, adding that they will charge for every single penny for the units consumed by power pilferers.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2024