Power theft across parts of North, West and East Delhi, even by families having metered connections, is affecting uninterrupted electricity supply in the national capital, which has been hit by a spate of outages of late, authorities claim.
Aggregate technical and commercial losses (AT&C), which is a combination of power loss during transmission and through theft, is up to 60 per cent in outer Delhi areas such as Burari, Najafgarh and Wazirabad among others, officials said.
The officials identified areas such as Jaffarpur, Mundka, Karawal Nagar, Seelampur, Mandawali, Chandni Mahal and Jehangirpuri among others where AT&C losses range between 25 per cent to 60 per cent.
According to an estimate, Delhi loses around Rs 1,000-1,300 crore annually due to power theft.
With the rising mercury, Delhi's peak power demand had touched a record high of 6,188 MW last month.
The rise in demand has been accompanied by frequent black outs across the city, adding to the woes of people reeling under the heat.
Sharing an analysis, a power sector expert explained that power theft and quality of power supply in an area were correlated as losses at the distribution transformer level about 10 per cent, brings down power reliability to around 97-98 per cent, resulting in outages.
"The constraints in augmentation of electricity network in unauthorised colonies (due to lack of space) and power theft in certain pockets has been a matter of great concern and these are increasingly affecting discoms ability to maintain stable and reliable power supply," an official said.
