KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 11

The government has published the report submitted by the Inquiry Commission led by former Supreme Court Justice Girish Chandra Lal.

The Commission was formed following a Cabinet decision on January 9, 2024, to resolve disputes regarding electricity tariffs for customers using dedicated feeders and trunk lines between 2016 and 2018.

The Cabinet meeting held last Sunday decided to make the report public. Accordingly, the report was unveiled at a press briefing at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation.

The report addresses key issues such as the definition of dedicated and trunk lines, their objectives, criteria for determining tariffs, and relevant court rulings.

In its findings, the Commission stated that arrears related to the dedicated feeders and trunk lines would be collected based on Time of Day (ToD) meters.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had previously implemented provisions to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to select private industries, public facilities, and offices during peak load-shedding hours, charging beneficiaries an additional premium fee of up to 65%.

During the press briefing on Monday, Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Deepak Khadka confirmed that the report would now come into effect following its public release.

Minister Khadka also announced that outstanding electricity tariff arrears would be collected within 15 days, and power supply would be restored to industries that had not cleared their dues within 24 hours. However, the NEA will determine the method for retrieving the outstanding fees, the Minister clarified.

The Ministry facilitated discussions between the NEA and users of dedicated feeders and trunk lines to collect payment based on actual usage, as Minister Khadka explained that cutting off electricity was not considered a viable solution to the issue.

The report categorizes the duration of usage of dedicated feeders and trunk lines into three periods: July to December 2015, January 2016 to April 2018, and May 2016 to 2022.

It specifies that arrears from the second period (January 2016 to April 2018) should be collected separately from the first and third periods.

Arrears from before 2015 will be addressed in accordance with court rulings, while the issue of load-shedding ceased after April 2018, noted Energy Secretary Suresh Acharya.

He further asserted that outstanding fees would be recovered in line with the recommendations of the report.