Nagpur: It may not always be as it seems to the naked eye. This is what came to fore during a recent raid by the Vigilance team of SNDL at the residence of Ms Geeta Shahu(consumer no. 410016890042), having residential address as HNo 158/B Jyotinagar, Khadan, Nagpur.
When the team visited the premises on the morning of 31st July at around 12 Noon, for once they felt that their informer network had not given them the right information. At the face of it, the premises seemed to be old and worn out where innocent persons could have been staying.
However, upon entering the premises the team’s instincts confirmed that they had received precise information indeed. A look at the meter further confirmed the same. The team had struck upon a very apparent case of ‘Terminal Tapping’ going on under the garb of humble dwellings.
Terminal tapping means that alongwith the ‘input’ cable, another cable is inserted to bypass the meter in such a way that meter does not record the usage (please see yellow cable in the image enclosed)..
The team probed further and was surprised to observe that the entire 3-floor structure including a hair cutting salon, a provision store and complete upper 3 floors were operating on a single meter, which too had been ‘tapped’.To utter shock of the team, a total of 6 families were staying on rent on the upper 3 floors. The total number of equipment in the premiseswas as follows:
-1 AC (2.25 ton),
-1 water pump (0.75 HP),
-3 refrigerators (total 1.5 KW) ,
-2 air coolers,
-1 mixer,
-1 TV,
-6 fan,
-6 CFL,
-7 LED light (12 watts each),
-2 tube lights
It was observed that the consumer would insert the ‘tapping cable’ around the date of visit by the meter reader to avoid being caught, but for rest of the month, they would continue the power theft. It was informed that there was another meter located on the upper floor of the building which the consumer refused to provide access.
It is suspected that there could be further revelations after the probe of that other meter too. It seems the consumer purposefully maintained a worn-out look of the premises to further avoid any doubts.
On completion of inspection by the vigilance team, the total load in premises worked out to be 6.2 KWagainst the sanctioned 1.5 KW load. The theft assessment came to be more than 20 Thousand units. An assessment fine of Rs. 3.31 Lacs was calculated under section 135 of the Electricity Act of 2003.
The team comprised of one engineer, one lady executive, 2 technicians. Upon presenting proofs, the consumer agreed to the fault and assured the team of paying out the fine immediately.
In its latest press release, SNDL has informed that in larger interest of nation, such informed vigilance raids would continue. Consumers should voluntarily remove any such existing tampering in their electric meters to avoid loss of face in public.
