Surat/Rajkot/Vadodara: Gujarat’s state-run power distribution companies have intensified drives to recover pending electricity dues and curb power theft, ramping up enforcement in the closing weeks of the recently concluded financial year and ahead of the peak summer demand.In the financial year 2025–26, the Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Limited (PGVCL) detected power theft in more than 85,000 electricity connections and issued bills worth Rs 324.83 crore in Saurashtra-Kutch.The discom said the drive helped prevent a loss of 663.87 million units of electricity till Jan.PGVCL officials said the vigilance department formed 379 dedicated teams, backed by police deployment, to conduct large-scale inspections. The teams checked 5,77,397 electricity connections and caught 85,191 consumers and non-consumers involved in power theft.Officials detected multiple methods of theft, including direct hooking (langar), bypassing meters using wires, tampering with meter seals and service wires, unauthorised load extensions, and change of purpose of electricity connections.The crackdown resulted in the detected theft value rising to a record Rs 324.83 crore in 2025–26, compared to Rs 254.25 crore in 2023–24.As a result, the distribution loss dropped by 4.36%, falling from 14.20% in 2023–24 to a historic 9.84% by Jan 2026.P J Mehta, chief engineer of PGVCL, “Those found tampering with meters or taking direct connections bypassing meters are booked under Section 135 of the Electricity Act, 2003. Their power supply is disconnected. In case of first-time offenders, police complaints may be withdrawn if they pay the compounding amount and pending electricity bills, while repeat offenders face trial.”Among the regions, Jamnagar circle recorded the highest monetary value of theft at Rs 57.56 crore, while Rajkot Rural reported the highest number of cases, with 10,230 connections caught.“This campaign will continue in the 2026–27 as well. Our aim is to curb electricity theft and benefit honest consumers. People can also inform us anonymously about power theft,” Mehta added. The Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Ltd (DGVCL) also clocked a strong recovery of pending dues, with most consumers clearing payments to avoid disconnection during the hottest part of the year.The power utility recovered more than Rs 419 crore in just 10 days during its mega recovery drive launched on March 17. The amount was collected against Rs 465 crore in outstanding dues from nearly 6 lakh consumers. Consumers were warned that failure to clear dues would lead to disconnection of supply. Once disconnected, they would also have to pay penalties and reconnection charges in addition to the pending bills. DGVCL, which has an annual turnover of around Rs 30,000 crore and serves nearly 38 lakh consumers, said about 80% of its consumer base is the industrial segment, where payments are generally made on time. Recovery drives are mainly aimed at residential and commercial consumers, where delays are more common. “Recovery drives ahead of summer prove effective as most consumers cooperate. Some amount is unpaid and mostly it is from the slum pockets, but our efforts are on to recover such dues too,” said a DGVCL official. The Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Ltd (MGVCL) had conducted a mega disconnection drive for three days on March 13, March 24 and March 27. Individual customers and industries were warned to pay their dues or face power supply disconnection.“We recovered Rs 51 crores during the drive. Majority of our dues have been recovered,” said sources in MGVCL. UGVCL which supplies power to about 45.7 lakh low-tension consumers in North Gujarat, recovered a major portion of pending dues during a special drive in March 2026.As of February 2026, around 16.6 lakh consumers owed Rs 171.50 crore. During March, 10.6 lakh consumers cleared dues worth Rs 153 crore.“We issue disconnection notices and also carry out door-to-door recovery, which helps us recover most of the arrears,” a senior UGVCL official said.(With inputs from Tushar Tere and Parag Dave)
