New Ofgem rules have come into force to ensure energy suppliers do more to detect, prevent and investigate gas theft.

Gas theft puts lives at risk and increases the cost of gas for customers. Research estimates that theft costs £138 million, or around £6 per household per year.

The new regulations Ofgem has set down require gas suppliers to be more proactive in detecting, preventing and investigating gas theft. Suppliers are also required to set up a new body to help improve theft detection by March 2014.

Known as the Theft Risk Assessment Service, this new body will analyse and identify when theft may be happening and pass this information onto suppliers so they can investigate it. Similar bodies already exist in the water, insurance and telecommunications sectors.

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Besides the new regulations and theft risk assessment service, Ofgem is also working to strengthen the incentives for gas suppliers to detect theft.

Following Ofgem's drive to improve theft detection, suppliers themselves are also considering a number of other measures to tackle gas theft, including:

Putting in place a code of practice setting out how theft investigations will be carried out

A stolen meters register to identify where meters have been illegally switched A 24-hour hotline so customers can report suspected theft

A forum for sharing best practice on tackling theft between suppliers, and promoting better co-ordination with other agencies.

Ofgem's Senior Partner, Andrew Wright, said: "In these difficult economic times it is more important than ever that suppliers do more to crack down on gas theft – which puts lives at risk and increases costs for consumers. We expect the new theft risk assessment service to result in suppliers at least doubling the amount of thefts detected from 3,000 per year to 6,000 per year. We now want to apply similar, or equivalent, reforms to the electricity market."

(CD/GK)