January 1: The outstanding dues of industries for using the Nepal Electricity Authority’s dedicated feeder and trunk lines during load shedding has increased from Rs billion to Rs 22 billion as the dispute continues to linger.

When the dispute started about five years ago, the outstanding amount that the industries were liable to pay to the NEA was only Rs 4 billion. Due to the stance taken by the Nepal Electricity Authority and the industrialists, the outstanding amount has increased to Rs 22.24 billion. It seems to have a direct impact on Nepal's productive sector and the overall economy.

Speaking at a press conference organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FNCCI) in the capital, former FNCCI President Pashupati Murarka said that a sub-committee formed under the coordination of NEA board member Bhakta Bahadur Pun by the 768th board meeting of the NEA on May 14, 2018 had determined the outstanding dues that the industries were liable to pay to the NEA of using the dedicated feeder and trunk line at Rs 4 billion.

"We could not pay the electricity tariff because the authority submitted false details. The outstanding amount has been piling up ever since then. As a result, the authority cut the line to the industries and its impact is affecting the productive sector and the overall economy of Nepal," he said.

The arrears of Rs 22.24 billion at present includes interest and fines of the fee determined by the Electricity Tariff Determination Commission for industries that used electricity continuously during the load-shedding period.

On October 2, 2016, the commission had authorized the NEA to charge additional fee to customers who were using electricity continuously for 20 hours from the dedicated line during six hours of load shedding at that time. However, the NEA sent letter to the industries in 2018 demanding clearance of the electricity bills by ignoring the conditions set by the commission. This led to a dispute between the two parties.

Pawan Golyan, president of Yarn Producers' Association, said that the NEA was unable to provide any evidence that the industrialists had used excess electricity, and accused the NEA of trying to endanger the country's economy by cutting off power supply to the industries after the arrears increased to over Rs 22 billion.

“The authority could neither present evidence at that time nor is it trying to present evidence now,” he said, adding that such a policy of the NEA could lead to further increase in arrears and the collapse of industries.

Dhruba Thapa, president of Nepal Cement Industry Association, also said that the authority has done injustice to the industries by sending fake bills without facts and evidence. He said that the recent move of the authority has created a situation due to which the industrialists have been compelled to migrate abroad. Thapa argues that the NEA charged the bill even for the electricity they never used just to show that the state-owned utility is in profit.

“If the authority seeks help for making it profitable, the industrialists are ready to help as much as possible. However, we are not ready to bear unnecessary burden," he said.