Report of Indian Institute of Public Administration ... - Ministry of Power

Preventive
raids (No.)
Demand
raised
Penalty
amount
Prosecuted/
compounded
(No.)
1995
-96
Synopsis of State Reports (Vol.-IV)
Study on `Impact of Restructuring of SEBs’
Table 6.5: Preventive Action and Prosecution for Theft
1996
-97
Pre-Restructuring Post-Restructuring
1997
-98
1998
-99
1999
-2000
69
2001
-02
2002
-03
2003
-04
2004
-05
(Rs lakh)
2005
-06
84173 74637 70864 78730 100729 106825 106300 81195 74164 103220
2384.69 3294.47 4666.76 3541.47 4669.67 6364.36 6022.26 4507.14 4580.20 5690
1524.08 204494 2689.17 2747.64 3601.06 3546.68 3202.74 2530.86 2306.43 2924.4
1861 8672 13356 17055 22977 1639 1036 518 218 1222
The State Government has notified the creation of 34 Anti-power theft police
stations. 15 Anti-power theft police stations have started w.e.f. 1 April 2006.
In the post-restructuring period, the number of raids to detect cases of
electricity theft has significantly come down year after year except during
2005-06. The number of such raids was 74,164 in 2004-05. This figure was
achieved eight years back in 1996-97 (74,637). Similarly, during the previous
five years, the penalty amount increased substantially every year, so much so
that from a recovery of Rs 15.24 crore in the year 1995-96, it had jumped to Rs
36.01 crore in 1999-2000. This is more than 100 per cent increase. During the
post-restructuring period, the penalty amount realised has constantly declined,
year after year, so much so that the penalty amount of Rs 35.46 crore in 2001-
02 has come down to Rs 23.06 crore in 2004-05. In the matter of
prosecutions/compounding, the record is also not very encouraging. During the
pre-restructuring period, the figure had gone up from 1,861 in 1995-96 to
22,977 in 1999-2000. The figure has increased every year during those five
years. After restructuring, the figure has come down drastically. From a figure
of 22,977 prosecutions/compounding in 1999-2000, in the very first year of
restructuring, (in 2001-02), the figure has decreased to 1,639. The next four
years have maintained this trend of drastic reduction in the number of
prosecutions. The total prosecutions/compounding of cases of electricity theft
during the last three years, i.e., 2002-03 to 2004-05 were 1,772 while in 1995-
96, in a single year alone, the prosecutions/compounding were 1,861.