ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s caretaker administration said on Wednesday it is setting up special task forces at the provincial and district levels to combat massive electricity theft as the country faces a significant shortfall in power sector revenues of Rs 589 billion ($1.9 billion) a year .
The problem, which is more prevalent in some areas of the country than others, has forced successive governments to increase electricity tariffs in Pakistan.
However, with widespread protests over inflated electricity bills and rising oil prices in recent days, the caretaker administration has decided to tackle the issue head on to rationalize electricity tariffs by minimizing its financial losses.
“We have received instructions from the prime minister to take action against this, curb electricity theft and collect revenue from those who do not pay their bills,” Energy Minister Muhammad Ali told reporters during a media briefing in Islamabad.
“We will establish a task force at the provincial level, which will be led by the provincial minister of energy or the minister of the interior,” he continued. “At the divisional level, a task force will be formed under the leadership of the commissioner and at the district level it will be headed by the deputy commissioner and at the sub-district level it will be headed by the assistant commissioner, while we will oversee all these activities from Islamabad.”
He said there were different levels of theft and extortion in different parts of Pakistan.
“The total loss due to theft or non-acceptance of bills in one year is Rs 589 billion,” the minister added.
“We have all the data on the areas where there is more electricity theft and we will pay more attention to them and launch a crackdown to reduce losses,” he continued.
Ali said the government has devised a strategy to deal with power theft.
“In areas where electricity theft is less – about 15 to 30 percent – we will intervene with technology and rely on smart metering and other solutions,” he informed.
However, in places where these losses exceed 60 percent, he would trigger a proper enforcement mechanism.
He also noted that the government has created a list of officials involved in electricity theft and will transfer them to other areas.
“We are working on the Electricity Theft Control Act and will create an elaborate enforcement infrastructure in the country,” the minister said.
He informed that the government is also planning to set up special courts to deal with complaints and punishments related to power theft in the country.
“Our goal is to finalize the law in the next two to three weeks, move it forward and send this regulation for approval,” he added.
