The Assam government registered 611 FIRs for unauthorised electricity connection and power theft during the month of June, senior officials said on July 2.
The Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) has launched a massive enforcement drive for recovery of dues and to check power theft, conducting 1904 raids for the purpose during the period.
The company received Rs 502 crore from consumers in June and Rs 220 crore is yet to be collected, principal secretary, home and power, Niraj Verma, and director general of police Bhaskarjyoti Mahanta told a joint press conference on July 2.
A fine of Rs 14.94 crore was imposed during June and of that, Rs 2.10 crore has been already recovered, Verma said.
Most of the fines have been imposed on consumers in the districts of Darrang, North Lakhimpur and Nagaon.
APDCL disconnected the power line of 1.11 crore consumers and 48,172 of those were restored after the dues were cleared, he said.
“We have a large consumer base and we try to provide quality power. Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has directed us to ensure that the dues are collected and power supply situation in the state is improved,” Verma said.
He appealed to the people of Assam to pay their dues on time so that the investment required for developing infrastructure to ensure round the clock power supply can be achieved.
Besides, APDCL is buying power from central PSUs and “once we are able to pay our dues in time, we will be able to ensure 24-hour power supply,” he added.
The DGP said that the chief minister has urged people to clear their dues to ensure that power is supplied to people in corners of the state.
He said that earlier only five police stations across the state were authorised to register cases against power theft, but now all police stations have been empowered to do so and conduct inquiry.
Referring to the recent launch of a helpline number for citizens to report financial cyber fraud cases, the DGP said that within four days, 112 such cases were registered.
Assam is the eighth state in the country with such a helpline number and the first in the country with a 24×7 service, he added.
