KARACHI, Dec 18: The average size of a Pakistani household is six - two parents and four children. It follows then that the head of an average family has to organize marriage functions — mehndi, maanyoon, wedding and valima ceremonies — at least four times.

Whenever he holds one of these function, he spends money on everything from furniture to clothes to food. Chances are, however, that he will hardly spend a penny on electricity even though a lot of it is consumed during each of the functions.

What he does is get hold of an electrician who installs a number of power guzzlers inside the shamianas, which are later connected to the mains in such a fashion that the meter is bypassed. He blinks neither when he himself oversees this “project” nor when he delegates it to his children. He and his children, thus, become accomplices in stealing electricity.

The issue, though seemingly trivial, is important and there are millions upon millions of reasons why it should be addressed as soon as possible. The estimates of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation say that 1 per cent of losses due to theft translates into Rs500 million per annum. Thus, if the total theft by common Karachiites during wedding ceremonies is assumed to be only two per cent of the total, the loss to the KESC works out to a whopping Rs1 billion.

According to a spokesman for the KESC, in certain parts of the city up to 40 per cent of the power goes to waste. About 20 per cent of the wastage can be attributed to faults in the old and rickety system. This means up to 20 per cent is being stolen.

The KESC, in view of the importance of the issue, launched not long ago a policy under which a family that wants to organize a function can apply, and get, a temporary connection. Under this policy, the family in question will have to apply to the KESC’s pointman in the area for a temporary connection.

This official will then ascertain the total power likely to be consumed during the function and ask the family to pay the bill in advance. Upon payment of this bill, the family will be given the connection.

However, according to several people who talked to Dawn, the KESC hasn’t publicized the policy properly. Five, out of seven, people said they simply didn’t know of the policy.

On the other hand, Asim Aqil - a resident of Federal B Area - said the policy should be improved. He was of the view that the ascertainment part of the policy could result in delays and also in giving rise to cases of corruption.

“Applying a flat rate to all functions would both be easier and time-saving. A family desirous of holding a function will then be able to get a connection within an hour or two, which works for both sides.

“And the KESC should fix the rate after finding out the average load requirement of an average-size function. This is a win-win situation for all.”

A resident of Defence - Azmat Ashraf - was of the view that there was a lot of room for improvement in the policy. He asked: “Why should we expect a resident to visit, one by one, the area Nazim, the area police station and also the KESC office in the area for just one function?

“Can’t all these steps be merged into one? As regards the cost, I think the authorities can charge up to Rs1,000 for the whole thing, including the electricity bill. And he can pay this amount at the one window he is asked to visit.”

However, most people, who discussed the issue with Dawn, didn’t agree with this suggestion. They were of the view that the KESC managed to recover each penny attributable to theft and losses by levying additional surcharges. “Why should we pay anything when we know that each million lost to thieves is spread among all the consumers,” said a resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal.

“Each penny is recovered.”

When contacted, the spokesman for the KESC claimed that the utility had invested considerable effort in publicizing its policy on temporary connections. He claimed that KESC’s inspectors routinely made rounds in the city to crack down on offending consumers.

He said during Ramazan these inspection teams had managed to cut down power theft considerably. “Now that the wedding season has come, our inspectors will regroup and then resume their campaign.”

The KESC man was of the view that consumers should refrain from stealing power not only because it was illegal but also because this sent wrong signals to a family’s younger members.