Political influence and legal disputes hinder electricity duty collection

Kathmandu, August 10: After the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) submitted the Time of Day (TOD) meter data showing electricity consumption by industrialists through dedicated feeders and trunk lines to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the House of Representatives, the committee has begun filtering the evidence.

This information has come to light during a period of controversy involving the PAC led by the CPN-UML, which has been accused of preparing a report at the behest of businessmen following a meeting with them. Allegations have been made that the committee’s chairman, Rishikesh Pokharel, met with the businessmen and that the report was prepared externally without discussion. Chairman Pokharel, however, has denied these allegations. He stated that the committee has received approximately 100,000 pages of information and that the secretariat has started reviewing the necessary evidence from today.