ISLAMABAD: The electricity theft has increased in the power crisis-hit country as line losses up by 18.6 per cent during the first five months of the current fiscal year 2014-15 against the 17.8 per cent during the same period of last year.
Sources said that the National Electric and Power Regulatory Authority Presently (Nepra) has approved 13.5 per cent as an average limit of the justified line losses on the government directives, which has failed to control the line losses. Figure crossing this limit is considered electricity theft.
It is pertinent to mention that Nepra considers the losses that can occur in the process of transmission and distribution of electricity. As per law the justified line losses are incorporated in the power tariff but any other loss crossing that limit have to be covered by the distribution company or the owner that is the government of Pakistan.
The government has paid about Rs450 billion to clear the outstanding amounts of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Pakistan State Oil (PSO). However, an amount of Rs237 billion has piled up as dues of power sector and a major share of this amount is due to unjustified line losses or in simple terms due to power theft.
