(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), the Appropriate Government or any officer authorized by it in this behalf may accept from any consumer or person who committed or who is reasonably suspected of having committed an offence of theft of electricity punishable under this Act, a sum of money by way of compounding of the offence as specified in the Table below:
Nature of Service | Rate at which the sum of money for compounding to be collected per Kilowatt (KW)/Horse Power (HP) or part thereof for Low Tension (LT) supply and per Kilo Volt Ampere (KVA) of contracted load for High Tension (HT) supply
Industrial Service | twenty thousand rupees;
Commercial Service | ten thousand rupees;
Agricultural Service | two thousand rupees;
Other Services | four thousand rupees:
Provided that the Appropriate Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, amend the rates specified in the Table above.
(2) On payment of the sum of money in accordance with sub-section (1), any person in custody in connection with that offence shall be set at liberty and no proceedings shall be instituted or continued against such consumer or person in any criminal court.
(3) The acceptance of the sum of money for compounding an offence in accordance with sub-section (1) by the Appropriate Government or an officer empowered in this behalf shall be deemed to amount to an acquittal within the meaning of section 300 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
(4) The compounding of an offence under sub-section (1) shall be allowed only once for any person or consumer.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 152
Section 152 of the Electricity Act, 2003 provides for the compounding of offenses of electricity theft under Section 135, authorizing designated compounding officers to compound the offense upon payment of prescribed compounding sums based on load capacity.
Upon receiving an electricity theft notice, if criminal litigation is commercially undesirable, immediately file an application for compounding under Section 152, remitting the statutory per-kilowatt fee to obtain an automatic deemed acquittal under subsection (3).