MPs panel’s novel idea: Take help of fatwa to curb power theft

ISLAMABAD: In a bid to curb the menace of power theft that is inflicting billions of rupees losses to the national kitty and mortgaging the power security, a parliamentary panel on Thursday gave a novel suggestion to the government to take the help of religion and get an Islamic decrees [fatwas] issued to curb this menace. A sub-committee of the Standing Committee on Power that was convened by Senator Nauman Wazir Khattak here on Thursday suggested that for controlling power theft, they have to get Islamic Fatwas issued to sensitise the public about its negative fallouts in this world and hereafter. “We have to inform them that using the stolen electricity for daily use including making meals is haram [strictly forbidden in Islam].”

Officials of the Power Division while briefing the committee regarding the magnitude of technical losses and theft in all distribution companies (Discos) said that these losses are now on average 17.8 percent. The highest losses are in Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) with 37.4pc, Sukkur Electric Supply Company (Sepco) with 36.5pc and at Hyderabad Electric Supply Company these losses are 30.1pc.

It was informed that in last 11 months (from July 2017 to May 2018), the technical losses and theft was recorded at more than Rs56 billion. However, MD Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) said, “We have no enough capacity to assess the actual power losses. The quantity of power we had sold to consumers has not been fully materialised in money recoveries.”

Senator Nauman Wazir asked the officials what the amount of losses that was added to total losses through Kunda system [electricity hooking]. There was no reply by the officials.

The committee however, termed these statistics unsatisfactory and rejected it and asked the officials of the ministry to present the complete details of the losses and theft in next meeting. Besides, also provide details of the electricity units that have been provided to Discos and also provide details of the electricity grids’ efficiencies to the committee in next meeting.

The committee also summoned CEOs of all Discos in the next meeting and also asked the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to attend the meeting.

The Power Division officials informed the committee that the losses have been assessed through a third party that has pinpointed the technical and distribution losses. The committee asked the committee to brief the committee on these losses in detail. Nepra had allowed various Discos with different thresholds of technical losses in the range of 11pc to 31pc, officials said.

Regarding privatised Karachi Electric, the committee was informed that at the time of its privatisation, technical and distribution losses were 35pc which has now reduced to 25pc.