GURUGRAM: Power discom Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) released data to TOI on Thursday showing that 203 cases of power theft have been recorded till June 20, drawing a penalty of Rs 1.17 crore, in all seven subdivisions of New Gurgaon.The number of power theft cases for the month of May was 338, drawing a penalty of Rs 1.72 crore.In May, the power discom had detected 118 instances of power theft in just the suburban division, which comprises Maruti, DLF City and South City subdivisions. This led to the heavy penalty of Rs 1.17 crore. Since then, this figure has fallen to Rs 61 lakh in June, with the number of cases coming down to 73.

In Sohna division, which covers Sohna, Tauru, Sohna road and Badshapur subdivision, the officials discovered 220 cases of power theft in May, which resulted in a penalty of Rs 54 lakh. In this case, though, the penalty amount rose next month to Rs 55 lakh, although the number of cases fell to 130.

Urban Gurgaon suffers from around 18% aggregate technical and commercial losses (AT&C). The comparable figure for rural areas is 25%. Officials said power theft by hooking is one of the key reasons for line losses in the city. Discom officials said they have tightened the noose around theft in all the two divisions and seven subdivisions of new Gurgaon.”We have a zero-tolerance policy for theft. We have to account for every power unit we draw from the transmission company, and can’t let it go waste,” said KC Aggarwal, superintendent engineer, new Gurgaon.Officials said they will continue mounting surprise raids against power thieves, to ensure cases of theft come down to zero.

“We’re intensifying patrols. We also have a policy for whistleblowers that we announced in January this year, which seems to be working out very well for us,” said Aggarwal. Aggarwal said under the whistleblower policy, the informer is rewarded 10% of the value of power stolen, and is open to both public and discom officials. On Thursday, the discom also awarded Rs 2.5 lakh to 35 employees who acted as informers in theft cases.”The informant officials have been rewarded bountifully. This policy is to incentivize whistleblowers. So far, we have had no public informant, but we are looking forward to their contributions,” said Aggarwal.[TOI]