Government Silent on Dedicated and Trunkline Electricity Arrears Dispute

Kathmandu. The government has remained silent on the issue of collecting electricity arrears from dedicated and trunklines, a dispute that has been ongoing between industrialists and the Nepal Electricity Authority. Despite four months having passed since the formation of the government, no initiative has been taken to collect the disputed arrears. In the past, Members of Parliament from the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) had strongly voiced in Parliament, stating, 'Money that should come into the state's treasury must be collected at all costs.' However, with the RSP-led government formed after the 2082 election, securing nearly a two-thirds majority under the leadership of Balen Shah, both the Balen government and RSP MPs have remained silent on this matter. The responsibility of collecting approximately seven and a half billion rupees in disputed electricity arrears has fallen on the Balen government for over four months, yet no concrete decision has been made. Nevertheless, the Electricity Authority has kept the path open for industrialists to pursue legal battles. Following the formation of the current government, a meeting of the Authority's board of directors held on Jestha 19, chaired by Energy Minister Birajbhakta Shrestha, decided to re-initiate the process of reviewing electricity arrears. The meeting formed a review committee under the convenorship of Authority director Krishna Bassel. Although it was stated that this committee would proceed with the process of reviewing industrialists' electricity arrears, there has been no significant progress. Authority spokesperson Rajan Dhakal, however, claimed that the committee is working. He stated that the claim of the Authority not moving forward with the process is untrue and that the committee is working. He said, 'In the past, industrialists paid the amount in up to two installments. Since there is a provision to go for review thereafter, the work of collecting the amount is currently stopped. However, the Authority is continuously following up. As the committee is working, no arrears have been collected from any industry for the time being.' He claimed that the work is being done accordingly as a path to resolution is being sought through the committee. Approximately one month after taking charge as the Minister of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Minister Birajbhakta Shrestha had stated that the authority to resolve the arrears dispute has been given to the Nepal Electricity Authority itself. Stating that the right and responsibility to collect arrears lie with the Authority, he had distanced himself by entrusting the responsibility to the Authority from the ministry's side. However, if the dispute cannot be resolved by the Authority's review committee, the ministry will proceed after discussions with the Auditor General and the Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority, he had said. Minister Shrestha had said at the time, 'The dispute over dedicated and trunkline arrears is long-standing. Therefore, the ministry will give the responsibility to the Authority for its resolution.' Minister Shrestha had clarified that the ministry would take steps based on past decisions, court verdicts, and various reports, adding, 'There are reports that some industries have paid the money now. If this issue becomes more complicated, we will reach a conclusion by talking to the Auditor General and the CIAA.' However, no concrete process has moved forward in that direction so far. Various decisions have been made regarding the disputed electricity arrears at different times, but a solution has not been found. Many had expected the current government to provide a solution, but this government has also revived the old review committee and moved forward. Previously, during the tenure of the then KP Sharma Oli government, Energy Minister Deepak Khadka had initiated the review process in Chaitra 2081 with a plan to grant arrears exemption to industrialists. However, that committee submitted a report on Ashoj 8 stating that review was not possible. Based on a letter from the Prime Minister's Office on Kartik 21, 2082, a decision was made to form an administrative review committee based on the legal opinion obtained from independent legal experts. In Magh, the Authority's board of directors, chaired by the then Energy Minister Anil Kumar Sinha, decided to seek an opinion from independent legal experts based on the letter from the Prime Minister's Office. On Chaitra 29, 2081, the then Energy Minister Deepak Khadka had formed a committee under the convenorship of director Shyamkishor Yadav, to which 46 industries had applied. However, that committee submitted a report on Ashoj 8, citing seven reasons, stating that the review process could not be advanced. Based on that, on Ashoj 10, 2082, a meeting of the Authority's board of directors chaired by the then Energy Minister Kulman Ghising decided to collect the arrears. Subsequently, the Authority issued a public notice giving an ultimatum to pay the arrears by Kartik 2. According to that ultimatum, only a limited number of industries came forward for the process. The lines of 25 out of 31 industries that ignored the ultimatum were cut by the then Energy Minister Kulman. After the industry lines were cut, almost all industries paid the first installment and some paid the second installment. However, on Kartik 17, 2082, an agreement was reached at the Prime Minister's Office between the then Prime Minister Sushila Karki, the then Energy Minister Kulman Ghising, and the then President of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Chandra Prasad Dhakal, to pay the first installment and proceed with the judicial process. Industrialists claim that according to that agreement, the first installment was to be considered a deposit. Although most industries paid the first installment thereafter, they have not paid the remaining amount despite continuous follow-ups from the Authority. The Authority had given industrialists a deadline of Kartik 2 to pay the amount in 28 installments. However, within that deadline, only 6 out of 31 industries showed interest in the process, having already obtained interim orders from the court. The lines of the remaining 25 industries were cut by the Authority. Kulman Ghising has expressed dissatisfaction due to the government's lack of promptness in collecting arrears. He accuses the government of not being serious about collecting billions of rupees in arrears from industrialists. He expressed dissatisfaction, stating that the new government has not shown interest in the amount that industrialists claim to have 'already paid' but appears as 'pending collection' in the Authority's records. He questioned the government's slogan of good governance, stating that the failure to make effective efforts to collect the remaining arrears, even from industries that have already paid the first installment of dedicated and trunkline charges, raises doubts about it. He asked, 'In the past, arrears collection was obstructed due to political interference. But now there is a government with nearly a two-thirds majority. Who is stopping the collection of arrears according to the law?' According to Ghising, efforts are being made to create uncertainty in the collection process by reviving the administrative review issue that has already been concluded. During the load-shedding period, the Authority had provided electricity to industries for 20 hours from trunklines and 24 hours from dedicated feeders, with the condition of an additional 65% premium charge. According to the Authority, approximately seven and a half billion rupees in arrears from 46 industries from Magh 2072 to Baishakh 2075 are yet to be collected. The Authority had given industrialists a deadline of Kartik 2 to pay the amount in 28 installments. However, within that deadline, only 6 out of 31 industries showed interest in the process, having already obtained interim orders from the court. The lines of the remaining 25 industries were cut by the Authority. After the latest action, 35 industries agreed to pay installments. However, Reliance Spinning Mills paid the first installment and obtained an interim order from the court, after which the other 34 industries have not come forward so far, the Authority stated. Including Reliance, seven industries have currently obtained interim orders from the court against the Authority. Currently, a total of seven and a half billion rupees are pending collection from a total of 46 industries, including government-owned, those who stopped installments, those who obtained stay orders from the court, and those who are not in contact. According to the Authority's data, a total of 58 industries were on the list of those who had to pay arrears during the period from Magh 2072 to Baishakh 2075. Out of 58, only 12 industries have fully cleared their arrears, while two government-owned industries have given written commitments to pay the arrears.