MSEB chairman Yashwant Bhave has asked the zonal staff to increase the billing through vigorous monitoring of faulty meters and proper meter reading and cutting down on leakages and thefts.

MSEB has come under severe attack from the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) for the high rate of transmission and distribution losses of up to 31.5 per cent. As these losses were mainly due to thefts and pilferages, MERC had asked the MSEB to bring it down by five per cent at the end of current fiscal.

Mr Bhave has expressed severe disappointment over the lack of improvement in recovery by the zonal staff and called for a plan of action in this regard.

He has directed that urban centres be selected at the point of distribution transformers and energy meters be immediately installed to know how many units of power has been pushed into the downward system. Each transformer caters to around 150 to 200 meters.

Mr Bhave said the amount of energy so pushed in the system should be reflected in the billed amount subject to the line losses which should not exceed at the level of 5 per cent or so. Hence, if the meters show 100 units being pushed into the downward system, the total billing must be in excess of 95 units. "If this is not so, then it means that either there is theft or the meters are not recording the energy properly," he added.