Nepal Electricity Authority, Tanahun Distribution Centre has cut off the lines of customers who had not been paying their bills regularly and recovered Rs. 7.541 million.

According to the Centre, the amount was recovered by cutting the lines of those who did not pay their electricity tariffs from mid-July 2023 to mid-January 2024 of the current fiscal year.

Bijaya Raj Regmi, chief engineer, said that the Centre has recovered the dues from 440 customers out of the 516 customers whose power supply had been disconnected.

He said that the outstanding amount has been recovered by cutting power supply as part of the campaign to disconnect the lines of the customers who have not paid bills within 60 days.

He said that under the campaign, the line of Araniko Cement Factory located in Aanbookhaireni Rural Municipality, which has the highest arrears of Rs. 7.281 million, has been cut.

According to him, about Rs. 4.267 million from 286 customers of Damauli Distribution Centre, Rs. 3.5 million from 153 customers of Dumre Distribution Centre and Rs. 9.879 million from 516 customers of Aanbookhaireni should have been recovered.

Out of about Rs. 17.6 million that should have been collected from 516 consumers, only Rs. 7.541 million has been collected from 440 consumers, he said.

After the amount is recovered, the line of those customers is connected.

As part of the campaign, after the chief of the Centre Regmi himself went to cut the line, the number of electricity users who did not pay their dues began to decrease, said Ramesh Sigdel, account chief of Tanahun Distribution Centre.

According to the Centre, the lines of the customers who have a huge amount of arrears will be disconnected at the beginning, and gradually the lines of all those who do not pay the arrears will be disconnected.

The electricity users who do not pay the electricity dues even after six months will be blacklisted and the recovery process will be initiated, Sigdel said. There is a provision of 2 per cent discount for seven days after meter reading. The amount as per the bill has to be paid by the 15th day.

From the 16th day of the meter reading to the 30th day, there is a provision to charge an additional fee at the rate of 5 per cent and from the 31st day to the 40th day at the rate of 10 per cent. 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 per cent of the bill from the 41st day.

There is a provision to cut the line if the arrears are not paid even by the 60th day after the additional charge of 25 per cent. There is a provision to blacklist the consumers who do not pay the arrears even six months after the line is disconnected and the recovery process will be set in motion.