Kathmandu, May 8 : The country’s three private sector umbrella organisations — Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI) and Nepal Chamber of Commerce — have launched a tirade against the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) by claiming that it billed industries for electricity they did not consume.
The private sector umbrella organisations came up with such remarks by jointly organizing a press conference on Tuesday (May 7) in the capital. According to them, they had been separately requesting the NEA not to charge the industrial consumers the cost of energy supplied through dedicated and trunk lines.
The power utility has decided to charge an extra 65 per cent fee for the electricity it supplies to industries through the lines. It also issued accumulated bills of the past three years to some 250 companies and enterprises for clearing such fee.
Bhawani Rana, president of FNCCI, said that the NEA’s decision is against the law and could force the industries to shut down their shutters.
Similarly, Satish Kumar More, president of CNI, said the move made by NEA to seek extra fee could be an obstacle to attract both domestic and foreign investors. Nevertheless, the NEA says that it has lawfully issued bills to enterprises for energy consumed through dedicated lines during load-shedding. Its official opined that those industries failing to clear their dues might face legal actions.
