Kathmandu, Nov 14: Power dues stuck for years have begun to move after 25 industries that used electricity through dedicated and trunk line systems during the load-shedding time finally started clearing what they owe.

Another 10 industries that had paused their earlier installments have also restarted payments. With this, the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has brought in 238.7 million rupees from these 35 firms, according to the Secretariat at the Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation.

These companies still owe a large amount. Their combined unpaid bills stand at 5.94 billion rupees. The ministry says the outstanding amount is linked to premium charges for electricity consumed through dedicated and trunk lines between January 2016 and April 2018.

Energy Minister Kulman Ghising said industries are free to take their concerns to the Electricity Regulatory Commission or the courts. He added that once they begin paying in installments, the hope is they will continue until the dues are cleared.

The authority had issued a public notice in October giving a 21-day deadline to settle the bills. When the deadline passed without payments, the NEA disconnected power to defaulting firms in two rounds on October 21 and 24.

People’s News Monitoring Service