Kathmandu, November 3

In a bid to encourage electricity consumption in the country, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has decided to reduce the tariff levied on all types of consumers.

A board meeting of the power utility has decided to revise down the tariff rates, especially for the dedicated feeder and trunk line users, that is, the industries and hospitals.

The board meeting has proposed that the dedicated feeder and trunk line users be charged only 15 per cent more than the tariff paid by general consumers. If the Nepal Electricity Regularity Commission (NERC) approved the proposal, it will significantly bring down the tariff rates for dedicated feeder and trunk line users that are currently charged 65 per cent higher than the normal tariff.

NEA’s consumers have been categorised in four broad categories. These include domestic; time of day (ToD) users like non-governmental organisations; community wholesalers and others.

The tariff rates vary by category.

As per a NEA source, the board will soon forward the proposed revised tariff rates to the NERC for its approval. The commission that was formed a few months ago has to give its go-ahead before power tariffs can be revised.

“Revision of the existing tariff rates is imperative as Nepal will soon generate surplus energy,” the source said, adding the board has also proposed the rates for charging electric vehicles.

The source added that consumers will be encouraged to ramp up their energy consumption as the new rates will be highly cost-effective.

The source further informed that the meeting has decided to collect existing dues from 250 dedicated feeder and trunk line users as per law. NEA has decided to ask the industries to clear their accumulated dues since fiscal year 2016-17, which has amounted to around Rs 11 billion.

On May 6, the private sector umbrella organisations — Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and Nepal Chamber of Commerce — had said that they will not pay the additional fee that NEA imposed on industries in the use of dedicated feeder and trunk lines. They had filed a petition at the Supreme Court, which is currently sub judice at the apex court.

“We will follow the court’s decision on the petitions filed at the Supreme Court,” the source added.