Electricity Arrears Row

The issue related to electrify tariff and settlement of its arrears has become pertinent. Giving top priority to the issue, the government the other day decided to form a probe committee to resolve the electricity tariff dispute of dedicated feeders and trunk lines. According to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) 61 industries have to pay Rs. 22.24 billion in arrears. Meanwhile the NEA had cut off the electricity supply to some industries having electricity arrears of more than Rs. 50 million. In the meantime, the NEA is directed to reconnect the lines of the defaulting industries. The issue is resolved temporarily but also demand a durable solution.    

Once there was a time when all Nepali households and most of business enterprises were facing a crippling power outage of up to 18 hours a day. At the same time, some industries had been able to manage special facility of uninterrupted power supply from NEA through its dedicated feeders and trunk lines. The special facility of uninterrupted power supply to such industries was provided at the cost of increased load-shedding to the general people and other enterprises.

According to the NEA officials the dedicated and trunk lines facilities to the certain industries was provided with the condition of charging higher electricity tariffs. But when the NEA issued the electricity bill for dedicated feeder and trunk lines, most of such industries refused paying the bill saying that the bill amount was arbitrary and lacked facts. As industries refused to pay the additional tariffs, the disputes went to the level of cutting off electricity line of those industries by the NEA. This resulted in the halt of production of such industries and employment of workers involved. 

After the request from the private sector organisations, the government has now taken the initiatives to settle the row on electricity bill of dedicated and trunk lines. A meeting of the Council of   Ministers held at the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in Singha Durbar on Tuesday decided to form the committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Girish Chandra Lal. Jiblal Bhusal, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Industry, and a Joint Secretary from the Ministry of Energy will be the members of the committee. At the same time, the government has directed the NEA to   reconnect   the   lines   of    different   industries. 

The NEA started to cut off   the electricity supply of industries having electricity arrears since December 22, 2023. The Authority has disconnected the lines of 24 industries  with  arrears  of   more  than  Rs. 50 million. Out of this, Himal Steels has paid the outstanding amount in installments and after paying the first installment, the Authority has reconnected the line. According to the Authority, 61 industries have to pay Rs. 22.24 billion in arrears. Industrialists and workers have also been protesting against the power line cut off. 

The private sector organisations including the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) and Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) are demanding impartial opinion on the disputes of electricity arrears between NEA and industries after analysing the past studies, current situation and Time of the Day (TOD) metres, among others. The government probe committee should examine the dispute impartially and give the reasonable solution to both NEA and industries. The probe committee should also be careful that its recommendation would not encourage the industries to make similar refusal of paying electricity tariff and arrears in the coming days.