Electricity board meeting postponed due to lack of quorum; Lal Commission's report to be released

KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 12 : The meeting of the Board of Directors of the Nepal Electricity Authority, scheduled to be held at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, has been postponed due to a lack of quorum.

The meeting was scheduled for yesterday at 3 PM following the Cabinet's written decision on Sunday (Nov.10) regarding the collection of long-disputed electricity tariff arrears for "dedicated" and "trunk line" services based on Time of Day (ToD) meters.

The planned meeting could not take place as the written decision had not yet been received. The Cabinet had decided to disconnect the power supply to industries within 24 hours. The Nepal Electricity Authority stated that the power lines would only be reconnected after the Board of Directors' decision.

Despite the meeting being postponed, the Ministry is moving forward with the publication of the Lal Commission's report. The government has already decided to release the report prepared by the Lal Commission, which was tasked with recommending solutions for outstanding electricity dues. The report, which had been kept confidential for a long time, is now set to be made public.

The government had assigned the Commission to study and provide recommendations regarding the tariffs for dedicated and trunk lines from 2015 to 2020. Industrialists had been requesting the report's release.

During the load-shedding period, industrialists used electricity around the clock through dedicated feeders and trunk lines. TSome industrialists, however, have not flatly denied paying their dues.

The Authority had given 49 industries until October 25 (8 Kartik) to settle their payments. Of these, seven industries filed writ petitions in court, and after receiving stay orders, the remaining 42 were instructed to pay their dues. By the deadline, six industries had paid the first instalment, and two government-owned industries had committed to paying. The Authority has disconnected the power lines of 34 industries.