Jagran correspondent, Ghaziabad. Along with the indifference of the consumers, negligence of the officials is also coming to the fore in disposal of the FIRs registered in electricity theft cases. Despite the relief and solution provided by the Electricity Corporation, the pace of recovery is slow.
According to the data, 9,951 consumers have been identified for electricity theft in Zone-II. Revenue of about Rs 45 crore is to be collected from these, but till now only about 200 consumers have been registered.
Only Rs 30 lakh could be recovered
Only about Rs 30 lakh has been recovered from this. Departmental sources say that if the officers had shown proactivity, the situation of revenue collection could have been much better. Taking the negligence of the officers seriously, Zone-II Chief Engineer Naresh Bharti has given strict instructions to all the subdivision officers and executive engineers.
He has said that consumers with FIR should be contacted by running a joint campaign with electricity theft police station and vigilance team and recovery of fine should be ensured. Consumers against whom FIR has been registered in electricity theft cases have been given the opportunity to settle the case by depositing the outstanding amount.
Under the Electricity Bill Relief Scheme, there is a provision to deposit the mitigation fee along with 50 percent discount on the fine in the month of December. Whereas, 45 percent discount will be given in January and 40 percent discount in February.