Kathmandu, December 27
Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is now going to cut the line at the house of the customer who
is charging higher tariff with the tenant. The NEA has recently amended the Electricity Tariff
Collection Regulations stating that the line can be cut if it is found that the occupants have been
charged more than the stipulated tariff.
According to the regulations, if the customer has to pay more than the tariff of the bill
according to the capacity of the meter, tenant can lodge a complaint at the concerned
electricity distribution center.
Manoj Silwal, chief and deputy executive director of NEA's distribution and customer service
directorate, said that the line would be cut off if a complaint was received with evidence of
higher tariff. "We are not saying we will cut it all at once," he said.
In terms of electricity tariff, housewives have been complaining about NEA for a long time.
Most housewives in Kathmandu charge electricity tariff at the rate of Rs 15 to 20 per unit.
While the NEA's tariff rate is only Rs 3 minimum and maximum Rs 12 per unit. Even though the
housewife was collecting more money every month, there was no formal complaint for the
customer. The NEA had also said that only the police could look into it as a fraud case.
NEA has made an arrangement to take a separate meter and take action against the housewife
as the customer has to remain silent even while unjustly charging higher electricity tariff.
Usually, the housewife puts a submeter in each flat and collects the tariff from the tenant based
on the number raised in it. But, in doing so, most of them have been calculating more than Rs
15 per unit. Tenants' residents have been complaining of being cheated due to lack of clear
accounts.
The tendency of housewives to raise high electricity tariff with tenant and the complaints about
it are not only in Kathmandu but all over the country. Some housewives do not show tenants
the account of the unit and the tariff. So many housewives are forced to give as much as the
housewife asks for.
According to Silwal, head of the distribution service, it is illegal for a housewife to charge more
than the NEA. "From a legal and humanitarian point of view, we should not raise more tariffs
than we have to pay to the authorities," he said.
How much to pay?
NEA has fixed electricity tariff along with service charge, said Silwal. Electricity tariff for
domestic customers is Rs 3 to 11 per unit and service charge is Rs 30 to 250.
Since electricity tariff is determined on the basis of total consumption, the occupants of the
dormitory will be able to determine how much tariff they have to pay by looking at it.
"Depending on the capacity of the line connected to the house, the total unit of electricity is
paid according to the number of units in the slab of your room," he said.
At present, up to 20 units are consumed by paying an additional Rs 30 service charge. Slabs of
21 to 30, 31 to 50, 51 to 100, 101 to 250 and above 251 units have been established. If anyone
wants to keep a separate meter in a tenant, flat or apartment, it will be provided immediately,
said Chief Silwal.
By Karuna Thapa
