Sunday, July 25, 2021

Energy Minister for charging less to larger consumers

Kathmandu, July 20

Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal said that her Ministry wanted to conduct a study about charging less tariff to those industries consuming high amount of power.

“There should be a provision to charge less to the industry that consumes high amount of electricity,” she told a delegation of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) led by Shekhar Gokchha at her Office on Monday and assured that the government would conduct a study about the feasibility of the proposal.

She also said that the Ministry would take an appropriate decision about trunk line and dedicated feeder line to the industries.

There is a row between the private sector industries and Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), the state run energy monopoly, in terms of the amount of the tariff of the trunk and dedicated electricity supply.

“Although the businesses have been paying their dues as per the rules and laws, the NEA had mentioned millions of additional charges in the name of unpaid energy fee,” said the delegation.

The dispute between the industries and NEA has run for many years since Electricity Tariff Fixation Commission took decision about it some five-and-a-half years ago.

Private sector businesses have been demanding not to apply the special charges for dedicated and trunk line after mid-May 2018 as the provisions were implemented for the load-shedding period.

The FNCCI said that it wanted the Energy Minister to issue directives in the name of the NEA not to collect the special tariff after that date. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 21 July 2021. 

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