08-05-2025
KSEB detects power irregularities worth Rs 40 crore in 2024-25
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The KSEB continues to be plagued by power theft and allied irregularities. The Anti-Power Theft Squad (APTS) of the board detected 4,252 cases of irregularities, including theft, wherein 4.7 crore units of power were siphoned off during the 2024-25 financial year. The collective drain resulted in the board picking up a pecuniary loss of Rs 40.6 crore.
As per the APTS documents accessed by TNIE, Rs 24 crore was remitted by the offenders to the board so far. The APTS, led by Prasanthan Kani B K IPS, detected the irregularities after conducting 31,213 inspections across the state.
The APTS detected 288 cases of power theft, which cost the board 12.5 lakh units of power. The assessed loss due to theft was Rs 2.27 crore, while Rs 2.6 crore was recovered, which included compounding fees also. Going by the documents, power theft was mostly reported in the northern districts. In March, 1.43 lakh units of power were reported stolen in the state. Of that, the northern districts accounted for 1.33 lakh units. As many as 41,000 cases were reported from Kasaragod district, while Malappuram had 39,000 cases.
However, it's other malpractices such as unauthorised load, unauthorised extension and tariff misuse that hurt the board in a big way. About 3.7 crore units were lost this way and the assessed loss is about Rs 34 crore. In the case of these malpractices, the southern districts trumped the northern districts. In March, about 59 lakh units were assessed to have been lost to malpractices, of which the contribution of southern districts was 46 lakh units. Short assessment also contributed enormously to the loss, pegged at 86 lakh units, which translates to Rs 4.5 crore.
