ISLAMABAD  -  Tightening the noose around the employees of the distribution compa­nies involved in electric­ity theft, amid a deadline of eliminating electricity theft from the country by April 23, the federal government has deput­ed FIA teams in the dis­tribution companies to identify and arrest such officers/officials.

To break the nexus be­tween the employees of DISCOS with electricity thieves, the federal gov­ernment has deputed FIA teams in five distribution companies of Punjab, Balochistan, Khyber Pak­htunkhwa and Federal Discos. It is worth to note here that the government had already deputed FIA in two Discos of Sindh, and one in KP for the same purpose.

On the recommen­dation of concerned ADGs, FIA officers are attached with CEOs of DISCOS in the anti-theft and recovery campaign helping to eliminate illegal connivance of the officers/officials of respective DISCOs with consumers in electricity thefts, said a letter titled ‘strengthen­ing management in distri­bution companies’ written by Director General Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to Secretary Power Divi­sion. Meanwhile, Feder­al Minister for Power Divi­sion Awais Leghari has also warned Discos to eliminate power thefts by April 23.

The copy of the letter seen by The Nation reveals that five deputy director level officers have been de­puted in the Discos. Accord­ing the letter, Deputy Direc­tors FIA, Muhammad Afzal Khan Niazi, Shabbir Ahmed Khan, Zawar Manzoor, Ab­dul Hayee Khan, and Saeed Ahmed Memon will be de­puted in Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO), Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO), Gujran­wala Electric Power Regu­latory Authority (GEPCO), Tribal Electric Supply Com­pany (TESCO) and Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) respectively.

Additional Director Gen­eral Anti-Corruption Wing (ACW) FIA HQ, Islamabad will be focal person to co­ordinate with the Ministry of Energy (Power Division). 

Following the deputation of FIA teams in five Discos, the number of Discos with such arrangements have in­creased to eight. The gov­ernment had earlier deput­ed FIA teams in Hyderabad Electric Supply Compa­ny (HESCO), Sukkur Elec­tric Supply Company (SEP­CO) and Peshawar Electric Supply Company in order to identify and nab the Discos employees involved in elec­tricity theft. The deputation also aimed to strengthening the management in these distribution companies. Meanwhile, Federal Minis­ter for Power, Awais Ahmed Leghari, issued instructions for immediate and stringent measures to combat the on­going issue of electricity theft across Pakistan, said a statement issued here. Em­phasizing the critical need to eradicate this illegal prac­tice, Minister Leghari has set a decisive deadline of April 23 to eliminate all forms of electricity theft from the country’s power grid. In a letter, the minister tasked all Discos’ chairmen and CEOs with mobilizing their resources effective­ly to put an end to electrici­ty theft. Additionally, he also instructed Superintendent Engineers, Executive Engi­neers, Sub-divisional Offi­cers, and relevant field staff to issue certificates certify­ing the absence of theft in their respective operation­al areas to ensure a robust verification process. Nota­bly, to meet its commitment with the IMF for reducing power sector losses and im­prove governance, the fed­eral government had direct­ed all the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the DIS­COs to provide affidavit cer­tifying that there is no theft on meters in their respec­tive areas, and warned that providing incorrect infor­mation would result in dis­missal from service.