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Govt announces ‘crackdown’ against electricity thieves, those who don’t pay bills

Published

4 weeks ago

September 6, 2023

The government announced plans on Wednesday to launch a crackdown on electricity theft, which federal ministers said lead to combined losses of hundreds of billions of rupees and higher bills for the common citizen.

Power Minister Muhammad Ali and Information Minister Murtaza Solangi made the announcement and outlined the measures they would be taking during a press conference in Islamabad.

It comes amid a “full force” crackdown planned against electricity theft across the country to tame mounting technical and commercial losses being faced by the power distribution companies.

The interim government, facing the ire of agitated masses over inflated electricity bills in August, has been mulling its options — although limited — to placate the people who have been out on streets across the country.

“The background is that in our country, some domestic consumers steal electricity and others don’t pay bills,” the power minister said in today’s news conference as Solangi looked on.

He began by specifying that there are 10 distribution companies, or Discos, in Pakistan at present and K-Electric, which provides the utility to Karachi, has its own distribution network.

“In every area, there are varying levels of theft and there are different percentages of recovery [payments],” Ali said, revealing that the annual loss due to electricity theft and failure to pay bills is Rs589 billion.

He said because of the electricity thieves and those who refuse to pay bills, others have to pay higher bills. “Until this is stopped, electricity prices will not come down,” the minister added.

He announced that the prime minister has issued directives to “crack down on this — end electricity theft and [ensure] recovery from those who don’t pay bills”.

The minister said the total loss in the Discos where recovery is relatively better than the rest of the country — in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan and Islamabad — amounted to 79 billion units, which amounts to a loss of Rs100bn out of billing of Rs3,044bn, estimated at 3pc.

The Discos in Peshawar, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Quetta and Azad Jammu and Kashmir had losses as high as 60pc, Ali said, explaining that his purpose was to inform the people which suppliers were recording higher losses.

“We have all the data on areas where electricity theft is more and where it is less, we will take steps on the basis of this data,” he announced.

“In areas where electricity theft is greater, we will pay more attention there and initiate a crackdown to end electricity theft.”

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For this purpose, the government is taking various steps, he said. “Where theft is less — up to 30pc — we will curb it through technological intervention.

“Where the loss is 30-60pc, we are considering whether we should involve the private sector in management,” Ali added. “For areas [where losses are] above 60pc, we will take enforcement measures,” he said.

The minister also mentioned government plans to improve the management of Discos. “We are looking at their board of governors; we will make changes in those and the management.”

The power minister said the government has communicated with chief secretaries and police chiefs in provinces and “we have their full support in implementing this [plan to curb electricity theft]”.

The measures also include reining in officials who aid the pilferage of electricity.

“We have prepared a list of officers who are involved in the theft,” the minister said. “They are being reshuffled and they will be removed from field jobs. We have sent the list to the Election Commission of Pakistan for their approval for the transfers.”

He further said the government will be constituting taskforces at the provincial level which would be led by home secretaries and include provincial energy secretaries, a federal government officer and police officers. Similar taskforces will be led by commissioners at the divisional level, deputy commissioners at the district level and assistant commissioners at the tehsil level.

The minister said the operations to curb electricity theft will be monitored by his ministry from Islamabad.

“We have established a control room and developed a dashboard at PPMC (Power Planning and Monitoring Company) to manage the performance of Discos on a day-to-day and hour-to-hour basis.

“We will monitor the operations from here but the implementation and execution will be carried out on ground at the provincial, district and tehsil level,” he explained.

The minister also announced that work was in progress on a new electricity theft control act, under which infrastructure of enforcement will be established across the country and special courts will be setup to hear complaints and give penalties.

“Our target is to finalise the draft of this ordinance in the next two to three weeks and send it for approval,” he said.

In response to a question, the minister said work was also in progress on reducing capacity payments. But, he added, this cannot be achieved overnight and would take time.

Answering another question, he said the government was also considering the options of “provincialisation and privatisation” of Discos. “We will soon make a decision with the cabinet on which is the right way forward,” he added.

Speaking alongside him, Power Division Secretary Rasheed Langrial said, “Eventually, our way is through privatisation.”

There was “serious thought” for an initial public offering (IPO) for three companies, he said, adding that Discos making massive losses because of low recovery rates — due to theft and line losses — would need work to become “privatisation ready”.

Additional input from Reuters

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News

Trump business empire under threat as New York fraud trial opens

Published

34 mins ago

October 2, 2023

callumbryne

Former US president Donald Trump will appear in a New York court on Monday as a civil fraud trial against him and two of his sons kicks off, with the case threatening the Republican’s business empire as he campaigns to retake the White House.

In Monday’s case, Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled that Trump and his sons Eric and Don Jr committed fraud by inflating the value of the real estate and financial assets of the Trump Organization for years.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is now seeking $250 million in penalties and the removal of Trump and his sons from management of the family empire.

Trump said late Sunday he planned to be present for the start of the trial on Monday morning.

“I’m going to Court tomorrow morning to fight for my name and reputation,” the 77-year-old wrote on his Truth Social platform. “This whole case is a sham!!!”

In addition to this civil case, Trump also faces several major criminal proceedings in the months ahead.

He is scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Washington on March 4 on charges of trying to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden.

Trump will then be back in New York state court, this time on criminal hush money charges, and later in a Florida federal court, where he is accused of mishandling classified documents after leaving office.

Finally, he will also have to answer to state charges in Georgia, where prosecutors say Trump illegally tried to get the southern state’s 2020 election results changed in his favor.

In the New York civil case, Engoron ruled that Trump, his two eldest sons, and other Trump Organisation executives lied to tax collectors, lenders, and insurers for years in a scheme that exaggerated the value of their properties by $812 million to $2.2 billion between 2014 and 2021.

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As a result, the judge revoked the business licenses that allowed the Trump Organisation to operate some of its New York properties.

Actually enforcing such penalties would be “a major blow to Donald Trump’s ability to do business in the State of New York going forward,” Will Thomas, a professor of business law at the University of Michigan, told AFP.

Under that kind of pressure, Trump — who made his reputation and fortune as a real estate mogul in the 1980s and had promised to bring his cut-throat industry tactics to the Oval Office — could eventually lose control over many of his company’s flagship properties, such as his 5th Avenue Trump Tower in Manhattan.

According to Attorney General James, a Democrat, Trump’s own apartment in that building is among the spaces that were fraudulently overvalued — it was listed as three times bigger than its true size.

Another Manhattan building, at 40 Wall Street, was overvalued between $200-$300 million in financial disclosures, James alleges.

Trump’s luxury Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida — the site of the classified documents drama — and several other Trump Organisation golf clubs also appear in James’s complaint.

Trump has repeatedly dismissed the New York civil allegations, calling James, who is Black, “racist,” and labeling Engoron “deranged.”

On his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed there was no “wrongdoing” in his actions of “fully paying back sophisticated Wall Street Banks in full, with interest, with no defaults, and with no victims.”

There are likely to be dozens of witnesses called to testify at the trial, including Trump himself, and former financial director of the Trump Organisation Allen Weisselberg, who served time in prison after pleading guilty to tax fraud in a separate case brought against the business.

Trump’s children Eric, Don Jr, and his oldest daughter Ivanka — who was initially also targeted by James’s complaint but ultimately not prosecuted — are also likely to present their own testimony.

Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen — now an outspoken critic of the former president — and officials from certain Trump-linked financial institutions are also expected to appear.

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At least 38 injured in police station fire in Egypt’s Ismailia

Published

45 mins ago

October 2, 2023

callumbryne

A huge fire broke out at a police headquarters in the Egyptian city of Ismailia on Monday, injuring at least 38 people, according to local media.

No fatalities were immediately reported but the building is staffed by soldiers at all hours and hospitals were placed on alert.

Footage on local media showed smoke rising from the entirely blackened multi-storey building.

The cause of the blaze, which broke out at the headquarters of the Ismailia Security Directorate before dawn, is not yet known.

Of 26 wounded who were transferred to a local hospital, 24 had suffered from “asphyxiation” and two from burns, local media reported citing the health ministry.

Twelve more were treated at the scene.

The health ministry deployed 50 ambulances to the scene, which were joined by military emergency services including two planes, according to state media.

Deadly fires are a common hazard in Egypt, where fire codes are rarely enforced and emergency services are often slow to arrive.

In August 2022, a fire caused by a short circuit killed 41 worshippers in a Cairo church, prompting calls to improve the country’s infrastructure and the response time of the fire brigade.

In March 2021, at least 20 people died in a fire at a textile factory in the capital, while in 2020, two hospital fires killed 14 people.

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Annual inflation rises to 31.4pc amid high energy prices

Published

1 hour ago

October 2, 2023

callumbryne

Pakistan’s annual inflation rate rose to 31.4 per cent in September from 27.4pc in August, statistics bureau data showed on Monday, as the country reels from high fuel and energy prices.

The country is embarking on a tricky path to economic recovery under a caretaker government after a $3 billion loan programme approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July averted a sovereign debt default, but with conditions that complicated efforts to rein in inflation.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation climbed 2pc in September, compared to an increase of 1.7pc in August. Reforms required by the IMF bailout, including an easing of import restrictions and a demand that subsidies be removed, have already fuelled annual inflation, which rose to a record 38pc in May.

Food inflation remained elevated at 33.1pc with the year-on-year increase in non-perishable food items at 38.4pc and 4.37pc for perishable food items.

Annual consumer inflation in urban and rural areas increased to 29.7pc and 33.9pc year-on-year, respectively.

Meanwhile, the highest year-on-year increase was recorded in the categories of alcoholic beverages and tobacco (87.45pc), recreation and culture (58.77pc), furnishing and household equipment maintenance (39.32pc) and non-perishable food items.

Index-wise increase in inflation YoY (in descending order)

Alcoholic beverages and tobacco: 87.45pc
Recreation and culture: 58.77pc
Furnishing and household equipment maintenance: 39.32pc
Non-perishable food items: 38.41pc
Miscellaneous goods and services: 36.42pc
Restaurants and hotels: 34.3pc
Transport: 31.26pc
Housing and utilities: 29.7pc
Health: 25.28pc
Clothing and footwear: 20.55pc
Education: 11.12pc
Communication: 7.42pc
Perishable food items: 4.37pc

Interest rates have also risen to their highest at 22pc, and the rupee hit all-time lows in August before recovering in September to become the best performing currency following a clampdown by authorities on unregulated FX trade.

On Friday, the ministry of finance said in its monthly report that it anticipated inflation remaining high in the coming month, hovering around 29-31pc due to an upward adjustment in energy tariffs and a major increase in fuel prices.

The report added that inflation was, however, expected to ease, especially from the second half of the current fiscal year that starts on Jan 1.

On Saturday, the government cut petrol and diesel prices from a record high, after two consecutive hikes. The finance ministry cited international prices of petroleum products and the improvement in the exchange rate, following the clampdown on unregulated FX trade.

Inflation has been elevated, hovering in double digits, since November 2021.
The country targeted inflation at 21pc for the current fiscal year, but it averaged 29pc during the first quarter.

Worsening economic conditions, along with rising political tensions in the run-up to a national election scheduled for November, triggered sporadic protests in September, with many Pakistanis saying they are struggling to make ends meet.

Analysts said the inflation reading was in line with market expectations.

Tahir Abbas, head of research at Arif Habib Limited, a Karachi-based investment company, said inflation appeared to have peaked for the current fiscal year and would subsequently recede.

“The higher reading is mainly due to the low base effect which was also mentioned in the last monetary policy statement. Going forward, in the next few months, we expect inflation to ease to around 26-27pc,” said Fahad Rauf, head of research at Ismail Iqbal Securities, a Karachi-based brokerage firm.

Rauf said higher inflation statistics should not impact monetary policy.

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