India, Sept. 30 -- Despite the claim by the state government and Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) that the Time of the Day (TOD) smart meters will curb power theft, 92 cases of tampering have been reported in the city till now.

Flying squads in the Pune circle, which covers the city, PCMC areas, and parts of the rural belt, found that consumers were drilling small holes into meters using magnets and even bypassing service lines to steal electricity.

MSEDCL has so far installed around 7 lakh TOD smart meters in the Pune circle, which has 38 lakh electricity consumers, including 32 lakh domestic users. The rollout began in April 2023.

In August alone, six theft cases were detected. FIRs have been lodged...