A Framework for Monitoring Electricity theft in Zimbabwe using Mobile Technologies

Abstract

The capabilities of mobile technology paradigm have indicated that almost every infrastructure, system or device has the potential to capture data and report it to the back-end system in real-time. Utilities need to deliver operational analytics by knowing what is happening across their entire infrastructure. The purpose of the study was to develop a framework for mobile technologies in monitoring electricity theft in Zimbabwe. Using a qualitative research in conjunction with the design science paradigm, data was collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observation, document review and qualitative questionnaire. The findings of the study revealed that the power utility in Zimbabwe uses very basic methods and techniques in detecting and countering electricity theft. This has made it difficult to deal with all the possible electricity theft strategies that are employed by the consumers. This study recommends that the power utility in Zimbabwe should use a framework for mobile technologies to monitor electricity theft in order to reduce revenue leakages caused by electricity theft.