A serving brigadier, along with support staff from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB), will lead a monitoring team at the Performance Monitoring Units (PMUs) in these Discos.
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Nov 30th, 2023) In a bid to tackle electricity theft and losses, the Pakistani government has opted to hand over the supervision of financially struggling Distribution Companies (Discos) to the Pakistan Army.
The latest reports suggested that a serving brigadier, along with support staff from the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Intelligence Bureau (IB), will lead a monitoring team at the Performance Monitoring Units (PMUs) in these Discos.
Data for the financial year 2020-21 reveals varying levels of electricity bill recovery across Discos, with HESCO at 73.7%, SPECO at 64.6%, QESCO at 34.66%, and TESCO at 25.29%. The caretaker energy minister, on September 6, highlighted a crackdown plan on electricity thieves, emphasizing an annual loss of Rs589 billion due to theft and non-payment.
As of September 6, the total loss in Discos with relatively better recovery rates, such as Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan, and Islamabad, reached 79 billion units, equaling a loss of Rs100 billion. Meanwhile, loss-making companies like HESCO, SEPCO, QESCO, and TESCO reported significant losses, prompting the decision to implement Performance Monitoring Units with military oversight.
The monitoring team's Primary objective is to identify corrupt individuals within the Discos involved in abetting and stealing electricity. They will be authorized to take strict actions against the perpetrators. The plan, yet to be approved by higher authorities, is set to commence with HESCO (Hyderabad Electric Supply Company) as a pilot project.
The Secretary Power, according to the reports, confirmed the plan's development, saying that it would help identify unscrupulous elements within the Disco and people hand in glove with theft of electricity and causing billions of rupee losses to the national exchequer.
