The Social Welfare Council (SWC), that is overseeing management of the Bhrikuti Mandap Area, is charging Rs 11 per unit in commission for the electricity provided to small and big traders doing business there.
The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) is providing dedicated 250kVA (kilo volt ampere) line to Bhrikuti Mandap since around four years ago. The NEA has set a rate of Rs 22.50 per unit during business hours, Rs 20.40 for normal hours and Rs 11.40 for off hours for dedicated line of that capacity. The SWC has to pay an additional Rs 33,125 per month for the power service.
An NEA staffer told Setopati that the average tariff in Bhrikuti Mandap would never be higher than Rs 22. But the SWC has been charging Rs 33 per unit on an average with the traders.
A total of 472,660 units of electricity was consumed by Bhrikuti Mandap in the Nepali calendar year ending in mid-April 2019. The tariff for that quantity at an average rate of Rs 22 per unit would be Rs 10,398,520 but the SWC charged over Rs 15.59 million for that.
Communication officer with SWC Durga Prasad Bhatatrai conceded that a little higher rate than that set by the NEA has been charged due to maintenance and other expenses that it has to incur. "We do regular maintenance. Repair of transformer is very expensive when it breaks down. We, therefore, charge a higher rate than that set by the NEA," he argued.
Consumer rights activist Madhav Timalsina opined that charging of a rate higher than that set by the government is illegal. "Everybody, be it government office or an individual, has to comply with the law in rule of law. Acting outside that is corruption," he added. "If there is repair and maintenance spending. That should be calculated separately and charged by dividing among the service users," he suggested
