NEA warns manufacturers to clear dues on dedicated feeders in 15 days

NEA revives eight-year old issue of collecting outstanding dues of dedicated feeders from industrialists

 KATHMANDU, Sept 4: Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has given a 15-day ultimatum to the industrialists, warning them to clear their outstanding dues of using dedicated feeders and trunk lines within the stipulated time.

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Reviving the years-long issue of pending bills of dedicated feeders and trunk lines used by the industrialists, the state-owned power monopoly came up with the fresh notice on Sunday. As per the annual report of the Office of the Auditor General, 49 industrialists have not cleared the pending electricity bills of Rs 15.53 billion for the special facilities provided to them during the period of load shedding.  

Manufacturers have been denying paying the dues on the dedicated feeders and trunk lines. However, the authority has been firm on making industrialists bow down to follow the government rules. Failing to pay the outstanding dues on the given deadline, the industrialists concerned will face actions as per the existing laws, reads the NEA notice.

Citing power outage issues, the NEA, in 2015, enforced the rule to impose additional fees on industries that consume lots of energy. Earlier, the NEA had been charging 65 percent as premium charge for the users of dedicated and trunk lines, which later on reduced to 15 percent on top of the normal tariff.

Under the dedicated feeder service, a factory that needs high voltage lines is permitted to receive direct electricity from a nearby substation, while those using trunk lines can receive regular electricity through two substations. In June 2015, a board meeting of the NEA had set the premium charges for factories using electricity through dedicated feeders from August that year. 

Previously, the NEA had sent letters to the manufacturers concerned a number of times, asking them to clear the dues. The industrialists, however, claimed that the NEA tried to recover additional fees imposed even after the power utility announced the end of load-shedding in 2016.