Actually it is more likely to be a lagacy thing than any desire to make money, I'm sure if the whole cutout and meter arrangement was to be designed from scratch today it would be quite different. But it has evolved from the old ISCO and similar cast iron equipment.
It is not the damage done to the network which is the issue with 'yanking' the DNO fuse, it is the serious risk of injury to the person doing it or the long term fire risk if they don't carry it out properly.
If the load is not isolated when the fuse is pulled there will be arcing of the contacts which will leave them permanently damaged potentially creating a high resistance connection which could lead to fire further down the line.
Unseen damage to the fuse carrier or cutout could lead to it falling apart when pulled and leaving live parts exposed or causing a fault at the full fault current of the service, this could cause some nasty burns and blindness for the person doing it.