Kathmandu, 3 Dec 2023. The Ministry of Finance has directed the Nepal Electricity Authority to collect outstanding dues related to street lights from the municipalities. This directive, issued on the 8th of Nov by the Ministry of Finance, instructs the authority to collect the remaining amount of dues, including street lights, from various government agencies through the respective offices.
In one of the proposals for its third financial restructuring, the Authority had mentioned reconciling the outstanding dues, including street lights, in the name of government offices with the government. Managing Director Kulman Ghising informed that a decision had been made to reconcile the amount owed by government agencies from the Ministry of Finance and that the decision had been taken as it was not possible to reconcile the amount and recover it from the respective offices.
We had proposed to reconcile the remaining amount of dues from various government agencies with the Authority in the accounts between the government and the Authority. However, the decision has been made by the Ministry of Finance to recover the said outstanding amount directly from the respective agencies,” said MD Ghising. “On the same basis, we are advancing the process of recovering the outstanding amount through legal means.
The Authority had requested a 45-day extension to settle the dues related to street lights, as announced in public information on 8th Oct. The Authority had requested municipalities to settle the outstanding dues for street lights through a public notice again on December 6th.
The Authority, Distribution, and Customer Service Directorate have initiated cutting off the power supply lines of municipalities that have not settled their dues, as well as urging municipalities in their respective regions to clear their outstanding balances. This information was highlighted by the MD of the Distribution and Customer Service Directorate, Manoj Silwal.
According to the Electricity Tariff Collection Regulation of the Authority, adopted in 2078 B.S., (2013 A.D) if electricity dues are not cleared within 60 days of meter reading, there is a provision for cutting off the power supply without prior notice, ensuring timely action in case of non-payment by consumers.
If the toll is not paid by the 16th day after the meter reading, there is a provision to attract additional charges. From the date of meter reading, from the 16th day to the 30th day, an additional fee of 5 percent and from the 31st day to the 40th day will be charged at the rate of 10 percent.
From the date of meter reading, consumers who do not pay the electricity tariff even on the 40th day will be charged an additional fee of 25 percent of the bill from the 41st day. In this way, there is a provision that the power line of the consumer who does not pay the arrears even on the 60th day of the additional charge at the rate of 25 percent can be disconnected at any time.
