Losses to Discos 25% higher than Nepra target: report

ISLAMABAD: The power distribution companies (Discos) have revealed total losses of 25.21% more than the target set by the Nepra over five years.

The losses fall under the category of administrative losses which include power theft. According to the details provided to the parliament by the Ministry of Power Division, the losses of some Discos are more than 89% of the target set by the Nepra. In 2020, transmission and distribution losses of 10 Discos were 4.36% in 2021, 4.62% in 2022, 5.10% in 2023 and 6.51% in 2024.

The details further stated that the regulator does not pass on electricity theft or losses exceeding the prescribed limit for Discos in the tariff of consumers. However, due to these losses, timely payments are not made to the power producers and as a result, the government has imposed debt service charges on the consumers to pay the interest.

During 2024, 207,820 FIRs were registered against people involved in electricity theft and 61,213 accused were arrested. Detection bills of over Rs12 billion were issued to consumers and Rs5.5 billion were recovered from them.