Theft of electricity

Theft of electricity is the criminal practice of stealing electrical power. It is a crime and is punishable by fines and/or incarceration. It belongs to the non-technical losses. Theft of electricity is the criminal practice of stealing electrical power. It is a crime and is punishable by fines and/or incarceration. It belongs to the non-technical losses. According to the annual Emerging Markets Smart Grid: Outlook 2015 study by the Northeast Group, LLC, the world loses US$89.3 billion annually to electricity theft. The highest losses were in India ($16.2 billion), followed by Brazil ($10.5 billion) and Russia ($5.1 billion). President of Northeast Group Ben Gardner stated : 'India loses more money to theft than any other country in the world. The state of Maharashtra—which includes Mumbai—alone loses $2.8 billion per year, more than all but eight countries in the world. Nationally, total transmission and distribution losses approach 23% and some states' losses exceed 50%.' There are various types of electrical power theft, including Tapping a line or bypassing the energy meter. According to a study, 80% of worldwide theft occurs in private dwellings and 20% on commercial and industrial premises. The various types of electrical power theft include: What's known as 'Cable Hooking' is the most used method. 80% of global power theft is by direct tapping from the line. The consumer taps into a power line from a point ahead of the energy meter. This energy consumption is unmeasured and procured with or without switches. In this method, the input terminal and output terminal of the energy meter is short-circuited, preventing the energy from registration in the energy meter.