The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has issued a 21-day ultimatum to the concerned industries and public entities to clear their outstanding dues for the use of electricity through dedicated and trunk lines.
The Authority issued a notice on Sunday warning industries to pay the dedicated and trunk line arrears by November 3 or face action.
The decision to collect the dedicated and trunk line arrears was made by the NEA Board of Directors meeting on Friday, in line with the decision taken by Energy Minister Kulman Ghising. Ghising had taken this decision when he assumed his office as the minister on September 15.
Accordingly, the Authority has set a deadline for industrialists who have been consuming electricity 24 hours a day through dedicated feeders and trunk lines during the period of load shedding but have not paid the tariff for the past 10 years.
When Ghising was the Managing Director of the NEA, he was dismissed from his post by the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the then Energy Minister Deepak Khadka for trying to collect 8.26 billion rupees in arrears from 49 industrialists. After becoming the Energy Minister in the civilian government formed on the basis of the Gen-Z movement, Ghising has moved forward with his old work.
According to the Authority, 49 industries have not paid their electricity bills from Magh 2072 to Baisakh 2075 BS. The Authority has offered these industries the facility to pay the outstanding amount in 28 installments.
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