12 local level governments of Banke and Bardiya have been impertinent to pay more than Rs 140 million dues they owe for drinking water and electricity.
Prem Bishowkarma: Centre for Investigative Journalism-Nepal
Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City has not made the payment for the electricity and drinking water. Even though it has been refusing to pay the dues for more than a decade, the electricity has not been cut off yet.
The sub-metropolitan city has to pay Rs 106.8 million to Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA); Nepalgunj Distribution Center. The sub-metropolitan which has not paid its dues to NEA has been collecting more than Rs 110 million per year as revenue.
Chief of NEA’s Nepalgunj Distribution Center Lakhanlala Mallik confesses that it has been really difficult to collect the dues from the Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City.
“We have been writing to the sub-metropolitan city and asking it to clear the dues,” Mallik says, “However, they never heed to our request to submit the dues amount.”
Clause 32, Chapter 5 of the Nepal Electricity Authority Act, 1984 has the provision relating to the exemption of tax. The clause says “The business of the Authority shall be exempt from local taxes of any category.” However, contrary to the provision, Nepalgunj Submetropolitan City has started claiming the tax for the electric pillar, water pipeline, and the tax or rent of the land used by the electricity authority.
“First NEA should pay either the tax or the rent of the land it has used for the pillars used for electricity and the transmission lines, then only it can ask us to clear the dues,” Metropolitan Chairperson, Dhawal Shumsher Rana explained the reason for not clearing the dues.
Rana’s strange demand has surprised both NEA and the Nepal Water Supply
Corporation. Clause 32 A has some provisions about arrears. It says the authority has the power to realize dues as Government arrears and further says, “The charges, fines, compensation and extra-charges dues from any person or customer under this Act or the by-laws framed hereunder may be realized by the Authority as government arrears.” However, NEA has not taken any initiation to act that way so far.
“It’s a chronic problem,” says Mallik, the chief of Nepalgunj distribution center, adding, “Neither we can collect the dues despite writing to them several times, nor have we been able to discontinue our service to them; it’s difficult.” He expressed his helplessness and added that NEA could not deal with the sub-metropolitan city as with the individual customers.
According to Nepalgunj Distribution Center, NEA has made a blacklist of more than 1,210 customers who have not cleared their dues in time. According to NEA, it has to receive Rs 103.84 million from those customers.
All the people in the blacklist are private customers. NEA has enlisted the people who have not paid the dues for more than 6 months or have not come into contact for 6 months even after the power cut.
But, Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan City has neither been in the blacklist nor its power supply has been cut off. “We have made the blacklist of the customers who have not cleared the dues for more than six months and we have even cut off their power supply if they don’t come into contact in 6 months,” Mallik adds, “However, we have not been able to blacklist the municipalities and rural municipalities.”
Kohalpur Municipality, Baijanath and Rapti Sonari Rural Municipality’s Ward No 2, 8, 9 and Janaki Rural Municipality’s Ward No. 6 also have been reticent on clearing the dues. Ward No. 20 of Nepalgunj Submetropolitan City has not been cooperating enough to pay the due to NEA.
Ramesh Rupakheti, the chief of NEA’s Kohalpur Distribution Center says that the due amount is under the headings street lamp, irrigation, industry and many government and non-government offices.
“The street lamps of the above-mentioned places of those municipalities owe more than 51.2 million rupees,” Rupakheti says, “However, they have been turning deaf ears to the payment request.”
Chief of the Division Office of NEA Province-5, Munindra Thakur considers it extremely challenging to get the dues cleared from the local levels. “We are subject to strange habits; we take the service but don’t pay for it. The electricity bill for street lamps, irrigation, temples and monasteries, mosque, etc. is due in many local levels in Banke.”
According to Thakur, Nepalgunj Submetropolitan City sowed the seeds of conflict first by demanding that NEA should pay to the local authorities for the areas occupied by electric poles and transmission lines.
“It’s shameful to refuse to pay the due amount putting forward unlawful demands,” Thakur says, “It’s a deceit.”
Not only the electricity bill, but the sub-metropolitan city has not paid the bill of drinking water as well. According to Nepal Water Supply Corporation, the drinking water due to the sub-metropolitan city is more than Rs 5.7 million. The NWSC has installed 40 water taps for the sub metro. Out of them, 26 are out of order but 14 are still working. Mayor Rana expressed his ignorance about the due to NWSC. “I do not know about the dues to NWSC,” Rana said.
Although the Drinking Water Supply Office has been demanding the sub metropolis to clear the dues both in writing and in person, the sub metropolis has turned deaf ears to its requests so far.
“We read their meters and update them about the dues they owe us, we request them to pay it,” Mohan Datta Bhatta, the assistant manager of NWSC says. He informed that the NWSC regulations let them cut off the water supply of those customers who do not clear the due. But, no water taps in the name of the sub metropolis have got their supply cut off so far.
Nepal Water Supply Corporation Act 1989 provisions, “The charges, fines, compensation, and extra-charges due from any person or customer under this
The Act or the by-laws framed hereunder may be realized by the Authority as government arrears.” But, the corporation has not used the authority to claim the due back.
“We do not have enough budget for the purpose, so we have asked the federal government to arrange for the budget,” Hari Pyakurel, the Chief Administrative Officer of Nepalgunj sub-metropolitan city, says. Pyakurel confesses that the local authority has no legal ground to ask for the tax and rent from for electric poles and transmission lines.
On the other hand, Electricity Distribution Regulations 2012 says that NEA will not install power supply to any person or institution that has not cleared the arrears. According to it, NEA will not provide its service to those persons or institutions involved in fraud, power pilferage or arrears to NEA. The NEA can suspense its service to the house or compound under such persons’ ownership unless they clear the amount outstanding.
Similarly, Clause 13 of Chapter 2 of the Regulations also gives the right of cutting the power supply of the customer or his/her relative’s in any part of the country. Instead of abiding by the regulations, NEA has not only been providing service to such defaulters but also has not booked them for punishment.
Bardiya fares no good as well
Likewise, Gulariya, Basgadhi, Thakurbaba, Madhuban, Barbardiya Municipalities and Badhaiyatal Rural Municipality of Bardiya have not paid the electricity bill as well. These local authorities owe 31.66 million rupees to NEA. According to the Gulariya Distribution Center of NEA, Gulariya Municipality alone has to pay more than 20 million. “We do not have the right to powercut such authorities; we need the directions from the senior authority to execute such actions,” says Paritosh Kumar Chaudhary, Chief of NEA Gulariya Distribution Center.”
Sushila Giri, Deputy Mayor of Gulariya expressed her ignorance about electricity arrears. However, Niraj Sharma the Chairperson of Ward No. 6 claimed that the issue of arrears was discussed in the municipality’s assembly. He added that like Nepalgunj Submetropolitan City, the assembly also decided to ask for the tax and rent from NEA. Like Nepalgunj Distribution Center, Gulariya Distribution Center also ahs prepared the blacklist including 292 persons who have not paid the bill as per the regulations. However, the blacklist has not included the name of the local authorities in the list. The local authorities there owe 4.54 million rupees as due to the NEA.
Not only the local government, the federal government and the agencies under it which preach good governance, transparency, and accountability to all have not cleared the arrears they owe to NEA and NWSC. Women Development Center, Nepalgunj is also one such government organization that has not paid any bill since 1994. It has to pay NWSC 97000 rupees.
There is a long list of such organizations in Banke. The District Education Coordination Center Banke has not paid NWSC since 2006. It owes Rs 98,000 to the Corporation. According to NWSC, District Administration Office Banke has to pay it Rs. 129,000 to date. Similarly, the Irrigation Directorates Office Nepalgunj has to pay Rs. 17,000 to it whereas the Department of Building Banke has more amounts. Department of Building has not paid Rs. 104,000 to NWSC. Nepal Airlines is also one of the institutions not maintaining financial discipline it has not paid Rs. 35,000 to NWSC. None of them have been brought to book for further action.
Not only this, but local drinking water consumer groups also have not paid their bills to NWSC. Drinking-Water and Sanitation Division Office, Banke has handed over all the drinking water projects in the districts to the local consumers’ groups. Such consumer groups are entitled to arrange for, distribute, and collect the charge of water from the consumers. Sadly, most of the consumers’ groups have not paid the amount they owe to NWSC.
Gulariya Drinking Water Consumer and Sanitation Committee has to pay 100,000 rupees to NWSC. Binod Kumar Yadav, the Assistant Manager of the Committee confesses that the committee owes the due from the day the project was handed over to it. “We are unable to get the arrears cleared,” Yadav says, “this may lead to further problems in the future.”
Small Urban Drinking Water and Sanitation Consumer Committee has 1.5 million rupees as dues to NDWSC. NDWSC has not cut off the pipe supply of the consumers who have not paid the due since 2010. However, Nar Bahadur Malla the chairperson of the committee thinks the consumer’s ignorance responsible for the large due. “The main reason behind our inability to pay the due is the consumer’s ignorance,” Malla says, “The consumers have not still understood that it is their obligation to pay for the service they take from the Corporation.”
