How LESCO Fighting Electricity Theft in Lesco Region?

Bylescobill

Power theft is a major challenge for WAPDA all over Pakistan. Electricity theft is financially costly and technically challenging to detect in congested commercial areas and in far far rural regions. 

LESCO uses different strategies to deal with this menace. The staff make surprise monitoring and checking during day and in nights. LESCO run awareness campaigns and implemented strict laws and heavy fines on culprits.

How to Make Lesco Electricity Theft Complaint

You can report an electricity theft on lesco toll free numbers by phone. You can also appear in open hearing (Khuli Kachehry) to report any crime related to electricity theft. Lesco also has introduced Whatsapp complaint system. LESCO Duplicate Bill service is also available on Whatsapp.

Common Methods Electricity Theft

Here are some common methods electricity thieves use:

Direct Hooking (Kunda System)

The most common and open method of electricity theft is attaching hooks (known as “kunda”). People connect wires directly to the overhead power lines, bypassing the meter entirely. This process results in unmetered usage and consumers use electricity but no units recorded in meter.This method is mostly used in areas where monitoring is challenging.

Meter Tampering

Tampering with the meter itself is a common method, where individuals may physically alter or interfere with the meter’s mechanism to slow down or stop the recording of power consumption. Methods include:

  • Inserting Magnets: Magnets placed on certain types of meters can slow down or stop the meter’s dials. (in old disk based meters)
  • Reversing the Meter Dial: Some individuals manipulate the dial to reduce recorded units.
  • Sealing Breakage or Modifications: Tampering with seals or using altered meters to bypass accurate measurements.

Meter Bypassing

This involves connecting wires before the meter so that only part of the electricity consumption is recorded, resulting in a reduced bill. A partial load is routed through the meter, while the rest bypasses it.

Illegal Connections to Ground

Some use grounding techniques to divert part of the electricity through the ground. This makes it difficult for the meter to detect the actual amount of electricity consumed, resulting in lower readings.

Remote Meter Manipulation

With the advent of smart meters, hackers and tech-savvy individuals can sometimes alter readings remotely, though this is more sophisticated and rare. It involves programming or hacking the meter’s software to display lower consumption.

Phase Interruption

By partially cutting one of the phases in a three-phase connection, the meter may record a lower consumption than actual usage. This technique is more common in three-phase connections where multiple wires are involved.

Accessing Meter from a Hidden Location

Some people use extension cables or similar means to divert power from neighboring connections or other hidden sources, making it harder for authorities to detect the theft.

Check: How to get new lesco connection?

Faulty Meter Claims and Meter Replacement Fraud

Some claim their meters are faulty, which leads to meter replacements that can be manipulated to show reduced readings. This method may involve bribing officials to replace meters with tampered ones.

lesco-Electricity-theft

Preventive Measures by LESCO To Fight Power Theft

To counter these illegal practices, LESCO has introduced and adopted following strategies:

  • Lesco teams do crack downs in anti-theft campaigns to catch thieves red-handed.
  • Smart meters for real-time monitoring and detection.
  • Remote disconnections when tampering is detected.
  • Frequent inspections by teams who perform random checks during day and night.
  • Analytics to identify unusual patterns in electricity consumption.

Reducing theft ultimately relies on a mix of technology, legal action, and community awareness.

Final Words

Electricity theft is a national issue that cause mistrust between provinces. All provinces do efforts to minimize the theft to the lowest level. But still it is a reason of power losses that are bored by people of Pakistan. We must discourage the practice of theft on all levels and be a responsible citizen.

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