KATHMANDU, NOV 16 - Finally after nine years of hiatus, the Electricity Tariff Commission (ETC), an autonomous body in the country, is ready to hike the electricity tariff, said an official. However, the exact figure to be hiked is yet to be decided by the committee. Mahendra Nath Aryal, chairperson of the Electricity Tariff Fixation Committee formed to revise the tariff rate in October, said all the committee members have agreed to hike the existing tariff in ‘principle’, but are still negotiating for an appropriate rate.
“We are still discussing on the total percentage hike. The exact figure stating the total hike will be decided soon after holding a meeting,” he said. However, the increment would not be applicable to those who consume less than 20 units per month.
The six-member committee comprising representative from the sectors concerned, including power entrepreneurs, government and the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) were scheduled to hold a meeting on Sunday to discuss the tariff, but it was called off due to absence of some members.
The committee members are likely to meet on Tuesday to further discussions and come to a conclusive end, said Aryal.
On Feb. 25, NEA had submitted a proposal to ETC, urging the latter to increase the tariff by a minimum of 25 percent so as to stabilise its financial condition by equalising the loss and profits. The tariff rate has not been adjusted for the last nine years. The current utility rate is Rs 7 per unit.
NEA Director Sher Singh Bhat said due to poor financial health of the country’s only power utility, the independent power developers were discouraged to fund for the hydropower development in the country.
“The increase in electricity tariff will not only rescue NEA from huge financial crisis but also help to minimise the load-shedding being faced by the country during winters,” said Bhat.
Aryal added that the committee has been reviewing the existing mechanism of the NEA structure and drawbacks, including increase in power leakage, lack of repair of diesel plant, government’s failure to provide proposed money to buy additional power from India and poor monitoring of the government owned and other big private companies to pay the electricity bills, which is causing revenue loss for NEA.
Meanwhile, Jyoti Baniya, one of the members of the committee and representative of Consumer Group, proposed to increase the electricity tariff to five percent of the existing price and recommended NEA to improve its financial status by upgrading the technical loss and structural improvement, among others.
“The NEA itself needs reformation of its administrative and financial structure to prevent further financial loss,” said Aryal. “It is clear that the revival of existing electricity tariff is inevitable to prevent the NEA from bankruptcy, but at the same time it (NEA) needs to reduce the irregularities within its organisation.”
NEA is facing a loss of Rs 4 billion yearly and the total loss so far is around Rs12 billion. As a result of the deepening loss, NEA hasn’t been able to develop new hydropower projects in the recent years, according to ministry officials.
Source: ekantipur
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