KATHMANDU, Jan 26: Three trade unions at Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) on Monday submitted a memorandum to the NEA’s management to recover the dues from the industries which used electricity from the dedicated feeders and trunk lines after the power utility authority failed to take action against them.
National Employee Union, Employees Association and Employees Welfare Council at the NEA have exerted pressure on the authority to take necessary action to recover around Rs 11 billion dues from the industries that used electricity through dedicated feeders and trunk lines. The industrialists have denied paying the due amount for a long time. The state-owned utility supplied electricity to around 300 manufacturing firms under the special facility even when the country was reeling under up to 18 hours of load-shedding.
Billions in unpaid power bills put NEA unions on the warpath
Under the dedicated feeders’ service, a factory that needs high voltage lines is permitted to receive direct electricity from a nearby substation, while those using trunk lines receive regular electricity through two substations. Citing power outage problems at that time, the NEA had decided to impose additional fees on industries consuming large amounts of energy.
But the industrialists have been dilly-dallying to abide by the decision, arguing that it was not appropriate for the NEA to levy additional fees even after the power utility announced the end of load-shedding in 2016. Last year, the government formed a task force to study the matter, which recommended waiver of premium charge for eight and a half months of the total dues.
A cabinet meeting held in August also endorsed the recommendations put forth by the task force and asked the industrialists concerned to settle the dues of 28 months and 11 days for using the special service provided by NEA. The government decision, however, has not been implemented so far.
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