Industries accuse NEA and energy ministry of defying PM Karki’s directive, Demand revival of administrative review committee

KATHMANDU: A coalition of affected and aggrieved industrial entrepreneurs has sharply criticized the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and the Ministry of Energy for allegedly defying Prime Minister Sushila Karki’s directive to revive the Administrative Review Committee formed to resolve disputes surrounding electricity tariff premiums.

In a statement issued Friday, the group welcomed Prime Minister Karki’s initiative to reactivate the review mechanism but expressed disappointment that the Energy Ministry has not implemented her instructions, leaving the ongoing crisis unresolved.

The dispute traces back to the NEA board’s decision of Baisakh 21, 2082, which had allowed industries to file for administrative review by depositing a security amount. However, while many applications were still under consideration, the NEA board abruptly overturned the process on Ashoj 10, 2082, effectively scrapping the review mechanism altogether.

“Prime Minister Karki showed leadership by directing the ministry to revive the committee, but the order has not yet materialized,” the industrial group stated. “We urge the Prime Minister to ensure the committee is reinstated without delay.”

The entrepreneurs said they had already deposited the required guarantee amount after PM Karki’s assurances, but the ministry and NEA have failed to move the process forward, causing frustration and financial stress across multiple industries.

They accused the NEA leadership and Energy Minister Kulman Ghising of misleading the public through social media by claiming that industries had been supplied uninterrupted electricity through dedicated and trunk lines during periods of severe national load-shedding.

“Even today, the Minister has not been able to provide proof that industries consumed continuous electricity during peak load-shedding years,” the statement read.

The group further highlighted that a high-level probe commission led by former Supreme Court Justice Girish Chandra Lal had clearly determined the specific periods during which industries received power through dedicated and trunk lines. Based on this report, the Cabinet had decided that NEA must provide evidence of actual electricity consumption before collecting any premium charges.
“But the NEA leadership and Energy Ministry have disregarded even the Cabinet’s decision,” they said.

The industrialists accused NEA of procedural failures — from delayed billing, to refusing to share consumption records, to ignoring government directives — while simultaneously running what they called “misleading publicity campaigns” against the private sector.

“Such actions undermine Nepal’s business climate and severely damage trust between government institutions and the industrial community,” the statement warned.

They called on all stakeholders, particularly the Prime Minister, to ensure that the issue is resolved through a proper judicial and administrative process, emphasizing that restoring transparency and predictability is essential to improving Nepal’s economic and investment environment.