During the last financial year 2020-21, power theft of Rs. 5.70 billion occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), a national daily reported.
The District-wise division shows the highest power theft in district Bannu, followed by Mardan. On the other hand, Haripur showed the lowest electricity theft in the province. District Peshawar has been divided into soft and hard areas, where an average of 25.1 and 63.1 percent power theft has been recorded.
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Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) paid Rs. 15,305.3 million to the power division for electricity supplied to it but was only able to collect Rs. 9,607.7 million in bills from customers. This is a loss of 37.2 percent or Rs. 12.93 billion to the national exchequer during the last financial year.
CEO PESCO, Mohammad Jabbar Khan, spoke to the media and expressed hope that the joint efforts of the utility company and provincial government will aid in reducing power theft in the current fiscal year. He informed that special anti-theft police stations have also been set up to catch those responsible for power theft.
He informed that hooks were used to steal electricity directly from the cables. “But now the new ABC cables will help reduce power theft in the province,” he said.
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District-wise data shows that District Bannu caused a loss of Rs. 465.2 million, while District Charsadda caused losses of Rs. 502.5 million during the last financial year. District Lakki contributed a loss of Rs. 227.5 million, and Karak added a loss of Rs. 149.5 million to the exchequer.
The district Tank’s losses amounted to Rs. 94.6 million and District Hangu’s contribution to PESCO’s losses was Rs. 104.8 million. District Shangla’s losses were Rs. 24 million.
