The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has started collecting street light arrears. The NEA has asked the local level authorities to settle their dues within a week and to install meters for street lights.

A total of 332 local governments are yet to clear Rs 6.9 billion they owe to the NEA for the usage of street lights, as of the month of Ashadh (mid-June to mid-July).

Metropolitan cities, sub-metropolitan cities, municipalities, and rural municipalities are among those with outstanding dues. The NEA had set a deadline of 45 days, starting from October 8, for local governments to settle their street light arrears.

After the one-and-a-half-month period, the NEA has started collecting the arrears. The NEA has issued a warning that if the local governments fail to pay the street light tariff within seven days and do not install meters, their power lines will be disconnected.

The NEA has made it clear that installing street lights randomly without installing meters is considered illegal.

The NEA has requested the local governments not to install street lights without installing meters. The NEA has also asked the local governments to pay the fee for unmetered lights.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City holds the highest street light arrears. According to the NEA, Kathmandu Metropolis alone has yet to pay Rs 1.81 billion for street lights.

Local authorities from the remaining 331 municipalities have yet to settle an outstanding amount of NPR 4.27 billion, as disclosed by the NEA. Kathmandu Metropolitan City has said that it has collected a total of Rs 1.81 billion from the Balaju, Baneshwor, Ratnapark, Kuleshwor, Maharajgunj, and Kirtipur distribution centers for streetlight taxes.

Furthermore, metropolitan cities such as Biratnagar, Birgunj, Lalitpur, Pokhara, and Bharatpur, along with sub-metropolitan cities like Itahari, Dharan, Hetauda, Janakpur, Butwal, Nepalgunj, Ghorahi, Birendranagar, and Dhangadhi, are yet to pay their street light tariffs.

There has been a dispute between the NEA and the local level authorities regarding the arrears of street lights for a long time.

Arrears recovery regulations

In the case of consumers who do not pay the electricity tariff on time, according to the existing Tariff Collection Regulations, 2078 BS, there is a provision to attract additional fees from the 16th day of the meter reading. From the 16th day to the 30th day from the date of meter reading, an additional fee of five percent is charged.

Similarly, from the 31st day to the 40th day, there is a provision to charge an additional fee at the rate of 10 percent. Consumers who do not pay the electricity tariff even on the 40th day from the date of meter reading will be charged an additional fee of 25 percent of the bill from the 41st day.

In this way, there is a provision in the regulation that the power line of the electricity consumer who does not pay the arrears even after the 60th day of the additional charge at the rate of 25 percent can be disconnected.

There is also a provision in the regulations of the NEA to blacklist the electricity consumers who do not pay the arrears even after six months after the line has been disconnected and proceed with the recovery process.