Electricity tariff dispute petition to be heard at judge Pandey’s bench

Kathmandu, November 13 — A writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court concerning the ongoing dispute over the dedicated trunk line tariffs between Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and industrialists.

The petition has been registered and is scheduled for a hearing before a single bench, headed by Justice Nityananda Pandey.

The writ was filed by Advocate Khadananda Kandel, challenging the decision made by the Cabinet. The initial hearing for the writ has been set for Wednesday.

The Nepal Electricity Authority had sent bills with a premium charge for electricity supplied through dedicated and trunk lines to various industries during load shedding. However, some industries refused to pay the inflated charges.

After the overdue payments were not cleared, NEA disconnected the power supply to these industries. However, in a Cabinet meeting on Sunday, it was decided that the power lines should be reconnected. Following this, NEA's board meeting on Tuesday also decided to restore the power supply.

The writ petition argues that the decision made by the Cabinet to halt the collection of dues as government revenue is illegal.

It requests an interim order to block the decision and demands that the amount be immediately collected in the name of the Nepal Electricity Authority. The petition seeks an interim order to stop the implementation of the Cabinet's decision.