Sepco recovered more than 6 billion 10 crores in the ongoing operation since September 7

Dr Abdul Waheed Mastoi
SUKKUR: In the ongoing operation of SEPCO since September 7, more than 6 billion 10 crores have been recovered so far, 2051 cases have been registered against electricity thieves and defaulters, 482 electricity thieves have been arrested, the spokesman said. According to the statement issued by Sukkur Electric Power Supply Company (SEPCO), on the instructions of the Government of Pakistan, operations are being carried out day and night against power thieves and defaulters under the jurisdiction of SEPCO.
More than 6 billion 10 crores have been recovered in SEPCO since September 7. SEPCO consists of 10 districts of Sukkur, Khairpur, Ghotki, Larkana, Qamber Shahdadkot, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore, Dadu and Nowshahroferos in which there are 5 operation circles, 16 operation divisions and 61 operation sub-divisions.
In Operation Circle Sukkur, 32 billion 46 crore 70 lakhs are owed to electricity defaulters, out of which 1 billion 45 crore 06 lakhs have been recovered so far.
In Operation Circle Ghotki, there are liabilities of 27 billion 68 crore 30 lakh, of which 1 billion 51 crore 88 lakh has been recovered. In Operation Circle Larkana, there are dues of 35 billion 77 crore 90 lakhs and the collection of 1 billion 16 crore 57 lakhs has been ensured. An amount of 1 billion 16 crore 06 lakh has been received out of the 28 billion 99 crore 80 lakh dues on Operation Circle Shikarpur. Similarly, in Operation Circle Dadu, there are liabilities of 44 billion 44 crore 30 lakhs while an amount of 1 billion 61 lakhs has been received.
If we talk in total, out of 169 billion 37 crore 11 lakh rupees of electricity dues from Sepco, in the campaign to stop electricity theft, which has been ongoing since September 7, more than 6 billion 10 crores have been received so far. It has been collected as fines and dues from defaulters. So far 2051 cases have been registered against 8192 power thieves and defaulters including 7367 domestic customers, 651 commercial customers, 83 agricultural and 91 industrial customers, while 482 power thieves have been arrested by the police.
178 in district Sukkur, 372 in Khairpur, 235 in Ghotki, 249 in Qamber, 203 in Larkana, 138 in Shikarpur, 112 in Jacobabad, 115 in Kashmore, 199 in Dadu while 250 cases have been registered in Nowshehro Feroze district along with electricity thieves and defaulters. 691 transformers have been unloaded so far. With the support of local administration and Sindh police, the recovery process from dead defaulters is going from better to better. As many as 93 employees of SEPCO, including Xens, SDOs, Line Superintendents, Meter Readers, Linemen, Assistant Linemen, ASSEs and Bill Distributors, have been suspended from their jobs for failing to control electricity theft. 16 employees have been slapped with heavy fines including ‘compulsory retirement’ as part of the action.
In this regard, Chief Executive Officer SEPCO Engineer Saeed Ahmed Dawch has said that the work of securing meters on all high loss feeders is going on while maintaining the strategy of zero tolerance against electricity theft. On the instructions of the Government of Pakistan, in the scope of SEPCO, while day and night operations are being carried out by SEPCO in the campaign to stop electricity theft, there have also been incidents of attacks on SEPCO employees by power thieves and defaulters.
Our officers and staff were tussled with, beaten and injured by the power thieves and defaulters, but we continued to take vigorous action against the accused with the help of the law. Power theft is a serious crime that leads to loss of power from the national grid. In order to discourage electricity theft in the society, SEPCO staff will continue to carry out indiscriminate operations day and night against electricity thieves and defaulters.