NEA Collects Rs 238.7 Million in Electricity Dues from 35 Industries

Thirty-five industries that consumed electricity through dedicated feeders and trunk lines during the load-shedding period have begun clearing their long-pending tariff dues, according to the Secretariat of the Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation.

Of them, 25 industries have started paying their longstanding arrears for the first time, while 10 industries—which had earlier initiated payments but later paused—have resumed their installments. With this, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has collected Rs 238.7 million in overdue payments, the state-run news agency RSS reported.

According to RSS, the total outstanding dues of these industries stand at Rs 5.94 billion, which the ministry said relates to premium charges for electricity consumed through dedicated and trunk lines between January 2016 and April 2018.

Energy Minister Kulman Ghising said industries are free to pursue their cases with the Electricity Regulatory Commission, courts, or other concerned bodies if they are dissatisfied with the state-run utility’s decision to recover the dues.

“We are optimistic that by beginning installment payments, they will continue to follow the process,” RSS quoted Ghising as saying.

The NEA had issued a public notice in late September, providing a 21-day deadline for industries to clear their arrears within October 19. After no payments were made within the given period, the authority cut power supply to defaulters in two phases, on October 21 and 24.

The NEA had earlier facilitated the industries to clear their dues in 28 installments, but instead of settling the payments, many manufacturers reportedly lobbied the then KP Sharma Oli–led government to remove Kulman Ghising from his position as NEA Executive Director.

In a turn of events, Ghising—who was ousted during that period—returned to government as Energy Minister following the Gen Z protests of September 8 and 9. After assuming office, he relaunched efforts to recover the long-pending dues, leading to the renewed collection drive now underway.