PESCO launches legal action against Peshawar hospital over alleged power theft

The Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) has initiated legal proceedings against Habib Medical Complex in the city's Dabgari area, after a night raid uncovered what officials describe as an electricity pilferage network supplying stolen power to a dozen clinics in addition to the hospital's own lift and a laser clinic.

According to a PESCO spokesperson, the company's team found a heavy-gauge illegal wire connected to the facility during the raid, which officials say exposed an unauthorized power connection used to bypass normal billing and metering.

Electricity theft, commonly referred to in Pakistan as "power pilferage," remains a persistent challenge for utility companies across the country, contributing to financial losses for power distribution firms and, officials say, to broader inefficiencies in the electricity supply system.

PESCO said the legal action against Habib Medical Complex is intended to hold the facility accountable for the alleged unauthorized use of electricity, though further details of the specific charges or potential penalties involved have not been disclosed.

Facilities found to be illegally drawing power have, in past cases in Pakistan, faced fines, backdated billing for stolen electricity, or in some instances criminal referral, depending on the scale of the theft uncovered.

PESCO has periodically carried out similar raids across its distribution network in an effort to curb losses attributed to power theft, an issue utility companies say significantly affects the financial sustainability of the electricity sector.

It remains unclear whether the network allegedly supplying power to the twelve clinics identified during the raid will face separate scrutiny beyond the case against Habib Medical Complex itself.