Nghe An Electricity strengthens inspection and handling of violations in electricity usage

Since the beginning of 2020, Nghe An Electricity Company has continued to promote measures to reduce power loss, along with technical solutions, operating the power grid safely and stably.

In addition, the Company also focuses on, strengthens and effectively implements the inspection of electricity use in the whole province; resolutely and thoroughly handles violations in electricity use, contributing to the completion of production and business tasks of the entire Company.

Checking electricity usage at Vinh City Electricity. Photo: PV

According to statistics from the Electricity Purchase and Sale Inspection and Supervision Department - Nghe An Electricity Company, since the beginning of the year, the entire Company has detected and handled 90 cases of customers violating electricity usage, with a total compensated electricity output of 333,532 kWh, equivalent to 1,077,320,536 VND. In particular, the hot spots of electricity theft occur most in the management areas of the following Electricity Companies: Nghi Loc, Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Do Luong, Quy Hop, Quynh Luu, Dien Chau...

Notably, there are some cases of electricity usage violations by customers with the amount of additional collection up to nearly 70 million VND, such as Mr. PDM's household, address: Hamlet 11, Da Son commune, Do Luong district; compensation electricity 21,309 kWh, equivalent to 68,608,587 VND and Mr. HVQ's household, address: Hamlet 2, Cao Son commune, Anh Son district; compensation electricity 21,688 kWh, equivalent to 69,828,982 VND.

Violation by removing pressure meter. Photo: PV

What is alarming is that most of the current violations of electricity usage are carried out in a very sophisticated and complicated manner, regardless of the danger, by means of reversing the meter phase, self-grounding to get cold for use, leading to a very high risk of short circuits and electric leakage when people steal by hooking up electricity, threatening the lives of meter reading staff and people if they accidentally come into contact with locations with electric leakage.

These violations not only cause great power loss to the Company, but also pose a potential risk to the safety of the power grid, and are one of the causes of unfortunate electrical accidents.

The thief buried the fixed electrical wire in the foundation of the house in Tam Hop commune, Quy Hop district. Photo: PV

Faced with this situation, in recent times, Nghe An Electricity Company has issued many documents directing its affiliated Power Companies to implement solutions to prevent and combat electricity theft; at the same time, coordinate with functional forces and local authorities to propagate, inspect, promptly handle and penalize administrative violations in accordance with regulations.

In addition, the Company has directed its affiliated units to take drastic measures in handling violations of electricity usage; strengthen day and night inspections; replace meters with remote monitoring functions; coordinate with local authorities and functional agencies to propagate and warn of the consequences of these violations.

According to Mr. Le Nam Hung - Head of the Electricity Purchase and Sale Inspection and Supervision Department of the Electricity Company: In preventing and combating electricity theft, it is important to promote propaganda and education on people's awareness of law compliance in electricity use. For this to be more effective, in addition to the efforts of the Electricity industry, it is necessary to have the participation of local authorities at all levels and the Police force in propaganda and mobilizing the people; closely coordinate with the Electricity industry to inspect, detect and strictly handle cases of electricity theft according to regulations.

"Currently, there are still some cases of customers stealing electricity but when discovered, they still refuse to cooperate, even have acts of resistance with the inspection and handling department, so it is necessary to have the coordination of local authorities as well as police agencies at all levels to handle. Increasing the detection and strict handling of electricity theft acts plays an important role in reducing commercial electricity losses, strengthening discipline in business, contributing to maintaining order and social security in the area" - Mr. Le Nam Hung added.

The scene of the electricity theft in Tho Hop commune (Quy Hop). The subject opened the meter box to connect inside. Photo: PV

Any act of electricity theft is a violation of the law, it not only causes loss of property for the electricity industry in particular but also causes great harm to the whole society in general. In particular, some people, due to lack of knowledge of the law, for immediate benefits, have committed acts of electricity theft for personal gain and have suffered serious consequences for their actions, both materially and spiritually. In addition, the danger from the act of electricity theft can cause electrical accidents among the people, causing insecurity in the electricity supply system, causing public disorder, etc.

Therefore, on October 17, 2013, the Government issued Decree No. 134/2013/ND-CP regulating administrative sanctions for violations in the fields of Electricity, hydroelectric dam safety, and energy saving and efficiency. Specifically, according to Clause 9, Article 12, Decree No. 134/2013/ND-CP, acts of electricity theft in any form will be handled as follows:

“a) A fine of VND 2,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 for electricity theft of less than 1,000 kWh;

b) A fine of VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 for electricity theft in the amount of 1,000 kwh to less than 2,000 kwh;

c) A fine of VND 10,000,000 to VND 15,000,000 for electricity theft in the amount of 2,000 kwh to less than 4,500 kwh;

d) A fine of VND 15,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 for electricity theft in the amount of 4,500 kwh to less than 6,000 kwh;

d) A fine of VND 20,000,000 to VND 25,000,000 for electricity theft in the amount of 6,000 kwh to less than 8,500 kwh;

e) A fine of VND 25,000,000 to VND 30,000,000 for electricity theft in the amount of 8,500 kwh to less than 11,000 kwh;

g) A fine of VND 30,000,000 to VND 35,000,000 for electricity theft in the amount of 11,000kwh to less than 13,500kwh;

h) A fine of VND 35,000,000 to VND 40,000,000 for electricity theft in the amount of 13,500 kwh to less than 16,000 kwh;

i) A fine of VND 40,000,000 to VND 45,000,000 for electricity theft in the amount of 16,000 kwh to less than 18,000 kwh;

k) A fine of VND 45,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 for electricity theft in the amount of 18,000 kwh to less than 20,000 kwh”.

Thus, we can see that depending on each act of electricity theft with different numbers of meters, the law stipulates corresponding fines. The larger the number of meters of electricity theft, the larger the fine.

In addition, cases of electricity theft of 20,000 kWh or more will be transferred to criminal prosecution according to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 44 of this Decree.

In addition to the main penalty, individuals and organizations committing electricity theft are also subject to additional penalties of confiscation of exhibits and means used to commit the violation, and remedial measures such as forced compensation for the entire amount of damage caused by the violation.