Power pilferers, be warned. The state government is planning to make it mandatory for pilferers to take prepaid electricity meters instead of regular ones. Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MahaVitaran) officials said that the move would reduce power thefts and distribution losses.

"One reason for stealing power is non-payment of bills. In prepaid meters, consumers have to pay money before using electricity, which reduces the chances of theft. Moreover, if consumers who steal power are made to compulsorily use prepaid meters, it will be easier to identify and keep a watch on them," said an official.

Power minister Chandrashekhar Bavankule told dna that the government was planning to make it mandatory for those who had been caught stealing electricity to source power using prepaid meters. In 2011-12, 47,633 consumers were found stealing power and they were fined Rs 41.04 crore by MahaVitaran. In 2012-13, 73,857 consumers were fined Rs 69.89 crore for theft, but the amount fell to Rs 41.23 crore in 2013-14 when 46,887 power pilferers were detected. Up to December 2014, 46,066 consumers were nabbed and fined Rs 39.66 crore.

MahaVitaran has managed to reduce its distribution losses from 31.72% in 2005-06 to 29.5% in 2006-07 and 24.09% in 2007-08. In 2014-15, distribution losses are estimated at 14%, the same as the previous fiscal. In 2012-13 and 2011-12, these losses stood at 14.67% and 16.03%, respectively.

At present, the state has around 25,000 prepaid meter users, most of whom are second home-owners who find it affordable to charge their connections only when they want to use them. In addition, prepaid users get a 5% rebate on prevailing tariff.

Consumers stealing power are charged one-and-half times the regular tariffs. MahaVitaran has 42 flying squads for detecting power thefts. In case, the energy audit detects more-than-normal losses in an area, meters are checked to detect deviations and responsibility is fixed on officials.

Meters used for high-tension and low-tension industrial users can store usage data for the previous 45-60 days and can thus throw up any deviations. The state also has special police stations at Kalyan, Pune, Nashik, Nagpur, Jalna and Latur to detect and investigate power thefts.