It is 7am, while most people are getting ready to start their day, SSGC's Counter Gas Theft Control Operations' team is already on ground preparing for a raid on a facility involved in theft of natural gas. Acting on a tip-off, the company's Counter Gas Control Department's Operation Wing accompanied by SSGC police reaches a locality in the outskirts of Karachi within no time. The miscreants known to have contacts with influential people, have been stealing gas for a long time by puncturing main supply line to operate generators for supplying electricity to the neighbours. Expecting an aggressive reception, the team moves cautiously to conduct its operation. The miscreants, caught red-handed, raise a major hue and cry and threaten the SSGC team of disastrous consequences. Nonetheless, the raiding party goes about their task of dismantling the illegal connection and lodging FIRs against the culprits.

This operation is one of the many, SSGC's Counter Gas Theft Control team carries out nearly every day on gas theft being committed across the company's franchise areas of Sindh and Balochistan. Stealing natural gas is not only a crime, it also puts innocent lives at risk since only a company employee can operate a gas line and not an amateur user or a plumber. One major reason to control theft is financial. According to industry sources, gas theft contributes 50% to Unaccounted-for-Gas (UFG) or line losses which means every percentage increase in UFG leads to the regulator (Ogra) slashing more than Rs 1.5 billion from the company's financial bottom line.

Gas thieves are a major source of nuisance for gas companies. There are a number of reasons for the rising incidence of gas theft in Sindh and Balochistan. Rapid urbanization is one of them. For the past several decades, big cities such as Karachi witnessed an unplanned growth of katchi abadis or slum areas where gas connection is unavailable. The settlers of these katchi abadis steal gas from direct line in the surrounding areas through rubber pipes by bypassing the gas meter. On top of it, in the industrial sector, a moratorium for many years had compelled many users to significantly increase gas load for running their units without company's permission, with the meters not large enough to calculate and measure the exact load for billing. Factories install suction boosters illegally that not only affect the gas distribution system but also measuring devices of the company. In interior Sindh, gas theft is generally seen as a money-making business where residents steal gas for power generation through distribution lines and then sell them commercially. On the other hand, commercial units such as ice and rice milling factories and mawa bhattis (sweet manufacturing machines) steal gas directly to run their businesses. When come winter season, in places like Balochistan, gas heaters run throughout the day for space heating purposes and a common man's bill shoots up by Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 which affects his ability to pay gas bills. That is when many consumers start tampering with gas meters on mass scale or pilfering gas by puncturing the company's supply lines to meet their heating and cooking needs.

Although in the past, legislation was promulgated to rein in gas theft, the attempts by the gas utility companies in Pakistan to productively control gas theft did not make much headway. In 2016, National Assembly passed the Gas (Theft and Recovery Act) that imposed heavy penalties in the form of imprisonment and fines on offenders engaged in various types of gas theft. The act proved to be a much-needed shot in the arm for SSGC in the south and SNGPL in the north. In 2017, the SSGC's security department was revamped as Security Services and Control Gas Theft Operations (SS & CGTO) Department and restructured on more result-oriented and professional lines, with the establishment of gas theft intelligence, security, prosecution and operations wings. The SS and CGTO department is equipped with a dedicated SSGC police force and other law enforcement agencies such as Sindh Rangers and FIA for undertaking raids on domestic, commercial and industrial thefts.

Ever since its formation in July 2017, through an extremely aggressive approach, SS & CGTO department has detected 157,000 gas theft cases in Sindh and Balochistan through a number of intelligence-based operations, through the aptly titled campaign called Operation Grift.

The company management happily notes that Operation Grift is heading in a right direction. Enforcement actions have resulted in a number of arrests and heavy penalties, with over 390 theft cases are undergoing trial in the courts. SSGC's war against gas theft has been boosted by the establishment of more than 38 gas utility courts with 27 in Sindh and 11 in Balochistan for taking punitive action against the offenders and serving them punishment commensurate with the type of theft committed.

The company is also running an aggressive mass media campaign to firmly warn the miscreants about severe penalties imposed on gas thieves. It also encourages people to report theft anonymously through its Whatsapp numbers and official social media pages.

The Gas Act not only gives the gas companies the mandate to nab the criminals but spurs a common citizen into playing a proactive role in prosecuting the wrongdoers. For instance, Section 25 of the Gas Act 2016 specifically states that if an individual reports a theft to the company, as per law, the person will be eligible to 5% of any recovered amount.

This zero tolerance demonstrated by gas companies including SSGC in curbing the gas theft seems to be working. According to SSGC, gas worth nearly 13,000 MMCF volume has been saved so far due to the persistent actions. Claims worth Rs 1.7 billion have been raised against the offenders out of which Rs 1.2 billion (or 73%) has been recovered from the culprits. The SSGC management considers this to be a major progress yet admits that more efforts are required to put a stranglehold on gas theft for which it is constantly strategizing. SSGC has no choice but to stay grounded in its war against gas theft. The company's fortunes depend heavily on its ability in containing gas theft. In a country where gas worth Rs 50 billion is stolen every year, SSGC's achievements in countering this menace may be a tip of the iceberg but a positive step forward. Let's hope it can keep the momentum going.

(The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of the newspaper)