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Kathmandu, August 9. Prime Minister Sharma Oli has clarified the government’s stand on the dispute over mainline and dedicated tariffs and said the tariffs shown in the records should not be discounted even by a single rupee.
In comments posted on social network Facebook on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Oli questioned why the tariff dispute was extended for nine years and a $16 billion discount was granted.
“Some media and social networks have repeatedly asked the government not to try to collect tariffs from dedicated feeder and trunk consumers.” The Prime Minister had said, “But the government is discussing why Rs 21 billion and Rs 88 million have not been collected in 9 years, why Rs 16 billion discount was given. Dues must be collected from industries without shutting down industries and affecting employment and production. From the record, tariffs cannot be discounted by even a rupee. An answer should also be sought as to why Rs 22 billion has not been collected in 9 years.
The industries protested after the electricity board issued discounted bills of billions of rupees during the load shedding period, saying that the industries had to pay a premium for the electricity they consumed in the form of mains and dedicated feeders. Although the industries demanded TOD meter data as proof of the dedicated feeder electricity charges, the authorities were unable to provide evidence.
When Prachanda was prime minister, the government set up a judicial committee headed by former judge Girish Chandra Lal and conducted an inquiry. The committee recommended that the bills sent by the authorities before the special tariff was fixed and after the load-shedding ended were illegal and electricity charges for that period should not be charged. The committee recommended that the tariff for the period from January 72 to Baisak 75 should be recalculated and levied after the period of electricity consumption was fixed while fixing the tariff.
The then Prime Minister Prachanda tried to turn the electricity bill issue into a political issue after leaving office by taking the initiative to form the Lal Committee and agreeing that the power board would not collect the outstanding dues of 16 billion. The agency’s executive director Kulman Ghising has been claiming that the outstanding dues to be collected are 6 billion, but he has not been able to provide proof of electricity consumption.
UML chairman Oli has always said that after assuming office as prime minister, he would only collect electricity charges based on facts and evidence and would not forcibly cut off power.
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