The federal government has ‘okayed’ deputation of Federal Investigation Officers (FIA) officers to electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) to end power theft, ARY News reported, citing sources on Monday.
The move has been taken to end power theft and enhance recoveries on the demand of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the sources said.
In this regard, a letter has been penned to the Power Division regarding the deputation of FIA officers in five DISCOs including Islamabad Electric Supply Company, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Tribal Areas and Quetta Electric Supply Companies.
It is to be noted that FIA officers are already deputed in Peshawar, Sukkur and Hyderabad Electric Supply Companies.
Read more: Pakistan recovers Rs84 billion from power thieves, defaulters in crackdown
The Power Division has recovered over Rs1.50 billion during a countrywide power theft crackdown from March 24 to 31, taking the overall recoveries to Rs84 billion.
To minimize the losses in the power sector, the caretaker government and military leadership of Pakistan in September 2023 decided to launch a countrywide crackdown on power thieves to minimize the losses.
Pakistan has so far recovered Rs84 billion fine during a countrywide crackdown on the power pilfers while over 62,000 people have been taken into custody from September 1 till date.
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