New Delhi, March 13, 2006

Press Release

Power theft: BSES turns the heat on markets: raids 36 MCD authorized shops and two “popular” hotels in Karol Bagh and Anand Parbat

·     36 MCD authorized shops and a 48 room hotel catering to foreigners raided in Karol Bagh

·     In another raid, a joint Delhi Police-BSES raid catches a “famous” hotel indulging in power theft of 178 KW in Anand Parbat -     already had Rs 64 lakh in outstanding dues

·   Cumulative penalties of over Rs 1.4 crore levied

(A) Rampant power theft unearthed in Karol Bagh

In a massive raid conducted recently in the busy Karol Bagh market, one of the busiest commercial hubs of Delhi, BSES Enforcement Teams raided 36 MCD authorised shops and a large 48 room hotel and found them all blatantly stealing power.

Of the 36 shops raided – not one was found to be having an electricity meter and all were found to be hooking power from the nearby BSES LV mains. These shops, selling shoes, school bags, toys etc were cumulatively engaged in power theft of over 50 KW worth nearly Rs 20 lakh.

“These shops will be charged a penalty thirty times their connected load in accordance to the provisions laid in the Electricity Act, 2003 ”, said a BSES official.

A 48 Room hotel with 14 AC’s and 36 Geysers caught stealing electricity of 155 KW

The same raid also unearthed M/s Sahni Guest House, catering mainly to the low budget foreign travelers, stealing power worth a whooping 155 KW. The establishment has been slapped a penalty of over Rs 65 lakh for Direct Theft of electricity.

“It is not that the hotel did not have a BSES electricity meter – infact it had six. But the owner devised a clever method of stealing electricity – he ran all less electricity consuming fixtures like bulbs and tube lights from the BSES connections but operated all power guzzlers like ACs, geysers etc by directly stealing power from the mains,” said a BSES official. “The hotel was found to be running 14 AC’s and 34 geysers besides numerous electrical appliances.”

(B) A joint Delhi Police and BSES raid catches the “Famous” Gaurav Palace (earlier called Kamal restaurant) in Anand Parbat blatantly stealing power over 178 KW

In another raid, a joint team of Delhi Police and BSES swooped down on the “famous” Gaurav Palace (earlier called Kamal restaurant) in Anand Parbat and caught him indulging in direct theft of over 178 KW of electricity. A penalty of over Rs 54 lakh is being slapped on the hotel in addition to the pending dues.

This is not the first time, this 45 room hotel with a bar and a restaurant has been on the wrong side of the law. Few days earlier, BSES had disconnected his electricity for non payment of around Rs 64 lakh in outstanding dues.

“The 45 room was cooled with the aid of 17 AC’s and a cooling tower. In addition, it had 29 geysers and plethora of electricity appliances”, said a BSES official.

 Acting on a tip off, a joint team of Delhi Police and BSES raided the hotel. A BSES official narrating the sequence of events said “The hotel management tried to deceive the raiding party by claiming that they were running 24 x 7 on their generators and not stealing any electricity. Not convinced, BSES team switched off the electricity on the nearby LV mains – plunging the hotel into complete darkness and thus exposing the power theft.” The official added that hotel was illegally drawing power from three lines, of which two were unscrupulously drawing from two different LV mains.

According to a BSES spokesperson “Our survey shows that there exist many such cases. We plan to conduct more raids in Karol Bagh, Anand Parbat and other markets in the days to come. These raids help us determine why local faults continue in the area despite continued investments by BSES to improve and augment infrastructure.”

According to Mr Lalit Jalan, Director BSES, “Blatant power theft is responsible for power outages in most areas. Delhiites must realise that Delhi is a power starved state. It is criminal that individuals and organisations steal the limited power and create problems for the honest paying consumers”

For further information please contact: