Kochi: In a major crackdown on irregularities in electricity consumption, Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd (KSEBL) has detected electricity anomalies worth Rs 3.14 crore in Ernakulam district. The special inspections were carried out by the Kollam unit of Anti Power Theft Squad (APTS) under the directive of the chief vigilance officer on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
The inspection revealed that the consumer had illegally extended this supply to 145 shop rooms without KSEB authorisation and without routing it through individual KSEB meters. In the case of the market complex, they should have taken 145 individual connections and each connection is liable to pay fixed charges. So, by avoiding separate connections for 145 shops, the consumer avoided paying fixed charges for each shop.
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This caused loss for KSEB,” a board official said. The KSEB chief vigilance officer said the inspections are part of a special statewide drive and such strict checks will continue to detect similar violations. The biggest violation was found under the Maradu electrical section. A high-tension (HT) consumer, a market complex which had an authorised connected load of only 50kW, was found using an additional unauthorised load of 260kW. In a separate case under the Kalamassery electrical section, a service connection with an authorised load of 450kW for industrial use was found operating with an additional load of 850kW. The squad also found that power from this connection was being illegally supplied to mobile towers of Airtel and BSNL without permission from the board. “KSEB calculates electricity charges on the basis of fixed charges and energy consumption during the billing period. Connected load is the total sum of energy to be used by various devices of the consumer. An HT consumer will have to pay a prefixed amount as fixed charges besides the charge for energy consumption during the billing period. “Moreover, the unauthorised connected load leads to collapse of transformers and other utilities in a specific area. KSEB fixes the capacity of transformers and other utilities in a specific area by calculating the combined strength of connected load in the area. Once the energy usage exceeds the limit, the transformers collapse,” he added. Download the TOI App.