Pune: Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) has imposed Rs6.15-crore fine on 1,822 consumers between April and Aug for electricity theft in the Pune zone.Consumers stole 25.9 lakh units of electricity during the five-month period, MSEDCL said in a statement. These cases were detected in the Pune Rural, Ganeshkhind City and Rasta Peth City divisions as part of the utility’s ongoing drive against power theft.Consumers were booked under sections 135 and 138 of the Electricity Act, 2003, for offences, including meter tampering and drawing electricity directly from the distribution network through illegal connections.Among the major cases, two industrial units in Chakan MIDC stole close to 1.1 lakh units of electricity. The two units were imposed a total penalty of Rs31 lakh. The utility also detected a theft of 47,867 units at a housing society in Hadapsar, attracting a fine of Rs16.29 lakh. A commercial establishment in Ganeshkhind was fined Rs13.52 lakh for stealing 47,290 units. MSEDCL said inspections and action against electricity theft would continue.
