Y S Ratra chairman, Punjab state electricity board (PSEB) said that Board is continuously making efforts to educate people of Punjab about the importance of energy conservation as saving of 1 unit of electricity is equivalent to saving of more than a unit of generation.
Ratra said that saving theft of electricity is even more important than energy conservation as the person stealing the power misuses the electricity. Board?s enforcement wing is actively involved in catching the defaulters and penalizing them.
He informed that in last year from January 1, 2007 to November 30, Board checked 166748 electrical connections out of which 48,984 connections were found to be irregular and penalty of 5835.71 lakh was imposed on the defaulters and amount of Rs 811.73 lakh has already been recovered from the defaulters. Balance amount shall also be recovered and efforts are being made in this direction, according to the chairman.
Ratra added that this year in the period from January 1, 2008 to November 30 Board?s enforcement wing checked 2,12,836 connections which is 27.64% more than previous year. Out of these 53,804 connections were found to have irregularities and a penalty of Rs 8686.59 lakh has been imposed on the defaulters and Rs 2453.21 lakh has already been recovered, which is 202.22% more than for corresponding period last year.
Ratra said Board is improving on all fronts and making efforts to provide better services to honest consumers. He appealed to consumers to stay away stealing power which may damage the electricity supply system and invite heavy penalties on them.