Kathmandu, April 18

Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Barsha Man Pun has urged consumers who can pay their bills online to clear their dues so as to help minimise the financial risks of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA).

Due to the lockdown, the concerned officials have not been able to visit single-phase meter households to do the meter reading.

However, customers can pay through the eight online service providers who have been approved to collect revenue for NEA.

“Due to the current adverse situation, we have called on all customers to pay the same amount that they paid in the previous month,” said Kul Man Ghising, managing director of NEA, adding that after the situation normalises, the tariff will be adjusted accordingly.

“We are in a difficult situation now as our cash is running out. So we request all customers who can pay online to do so,” he added.

NEA has said it will not levy fines on the electricity tariffs for the past two months — February 13 to April 12 — if the bills are cleared by May 31.

According to the decision of the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers on March 29, the power utility has decided to waive the penalty if the tariffs are paid within the ongoing fiscal.

However, if payments are not made within the stipulated time, then there is a provision of levying fines, said Ghising, adding, “However, we will extend this time period if the lockdown is further extended.”

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government had earlier decided to give 25 per cent discount to 3.6 million customers on monthly tariff on electricity usage of March 14 to April 12.

Minister Pun, who is also the chairperson of NEA, said those customers who can pay their bills online can do so and avail the discount that is being provided at the moment.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 19, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.