By Our Correspondent,Syangja, Apr. 6: Nepal Electricity Syangja has cut the line of 533 clients who did not pay the electricity bill on time. The Syangja branch of the Authority , which covers 11 municipalities, has started taking action from 17 July last year. The line has been disconnected in accordance with the Electricity Authority Fee Collection Rules 2078.
According to Head of the office, Partap Baral, the line was cut within the limits of the toll collection regulation, which permits consumers to switch off electricity 60 days after failing to pay the toll.
Baral said that there were many small customers who couldn't pay their electricity bills, and after cutting off their power, 489 customers had paid a total NPR 4,033,472 in 96 days after receiving their bills. However, 44 customers have not reconnected their lines yet after being disconnected.
Baral mentioned that there were 69 customers who were in the blacklisted category and five blacklisted clients were reconnected after paying 48,551 rupees.
He mentioned that there is a provision to cut off the line and keep the customer in the blacklisted category for up to six months if they do not pay their bills.
Similarly, the authority informed that the Smart Telecom Fedikhola was mostly affected by blacklisting due to non-payment of bills and still owes NPR 1,20,297 to the authority.
Earlier, the government office here used to get the line cut without paying the fees, but now they are paying in advance. He mentioned that no one should have their electricity supply disconnected without proper notice and that all outstanding dues can be paid off except for regular payments until the deadline for payment in mid-July.
The authority has a total of 31,378 customers with 24,000 in Syangja and 7,378 in Mirmi. Baral has informed that they have to collect due tariff of Rs. 26,236,254.54 from the customers.