Mayors' Forum requests Finance Minister Pun to settle electricity dues

Kathmandu: The Kathmandu Valley Mayors' Forum has requested Finance Minister Barshaman Pun to settle the electricity dues of the local governments up to the current fiscal year.

The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had, three months ago, sent a circular along with the electricity bill to the local levels to pay the electricity dues. Reaching the Finance Ministry on Thursday, a delegation led by the President of the Kathmandu Valley Mayors' Forum and Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Chiribabu Maharjan, urged the Finance Minister Pun for the same. President Maharjan said they would pay electricity charges from the coming fiscal year.

'Let us settle the electricity dues up to the current fiscal year and adopt the '60/40 arrangement' from the coming fiscal year. He underlined that there should be an arrangement of 60 percent electricity charge, of the total electricity charge, by the local level and 40 percent by NEA.

Local levels and the Mayors' Forum of the Kathmandu Valley have been protesting after the NEA sent a circular to the local levels asking them to clear the electricity tariff from 2074 BS.

The delegation members complained that the amount mentioned in the bill was not accurate. He blamed the NEA for involving people's representatives in the campaign to make Kathmandu Valley bright and safe. Mayor of Chandragiri municipality and Forum General-Secretary Ghanshyam Giri shared that they were ready to pay electricity tariff from the coming fiscal year.

Earlier, the Forum delegation had requested Energy Minister Shakti Bahadur Basnet to rethink the electricity tariff amount at local levels.

Similarly, the Finance Minister said they would move ahead discussing the demands of the Kathmandu Valley Mayors' Forum. He expressed commitment to holding discussions on legal issues as well as amendments to laws in the context of settling electricity dues. The Finance Minister also directed the NEA not to disconnect the power supply at local levels.

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