Govt sacks HESCO chief over 'poor performance' against power theft

ISLAMABAD: The caretaker federal government on Tuesday removed Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) Chief Executive Officer Muzaffar Abbasi over his poor performance in the nationwide crackdown against power pilferers, ARY News reported.

According to details, the government has removed HESCO chief Muzaffar Abbasi and replaced him with Bashir Ahmed who was transferred from FESCO two days ago.

A letter regarding the appointment of Bashir Ahmed as Hesco’s chief also issued by the power regulator.

The change of HESCO chief has been made in the context of the decision of the 237th meeting of the Board of Directors.

Rs34 bln recovered from power defaulters

In a bid to curb power theft, the Power Division has recovered a total of Rs 34 billion from the individuals caught during the countrywide crackdown, it emerged Monday.

According to the details, the government and military leadership of the country in September decided to initiate a countrywide crackdown on power thieves.

As per Power Division reports, a total of 197 government employees – from the relevant institutions –found involved in the electricity theft were suspended, while at least 25,142 individuals were arrested in the countrywide power theft crackdown.

Rs 34 billion were recovered during the crackdown which minimizes the losses of power division by more than Rs 12 billion.

Meanwhile, the annual loss in the national grid for the current year is estimated at Rs 589 billion out of which Rs 199 billion is attributed to different regions such as ex-Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FTA), Balochistan, Tubewells, and Azad Kashmir.

However, during the crackdown against electricity theft, Rs 46 billion was recovered from electricity pilfers.

The concerned institutions have assured that ‘no one’ will be spared or escape the scrutiny, while legal action has been taken against all perpetrators found involved in illicit activities.