KATHMANDU: The Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) has said that 332 local levels are yet to settle their outstanding electricity tariff dues for the usage of street lights.

In a notice, the NEA has made public the names of these local levels that have not fulfilled their street light fee obligations.

The NEA has issued a warning, stating that if the outstanding fees are not cleared within 45 days, legal actions will be taken against the defaulting entities.

Surprisingly, even prominent metropolitan cities like Kathmandu Metropolitan City have not paid their dues to the NEA for utilizing street lighting services.

According to NEA, a staggering amount of NPR 6,894,311,000 is yet to be collected from 332 local levels across the nation for their usage of electricity for street lighting purposes.

The NEA has reiterated its commitment to enforcing the rules, stressing that if local levels fail to settle their street light fees within the specified timeframe, appropriate actions will be initiated.

Furthermore, the NEA has issued a reminder to local levels, urging them not to install street lights arbitrarily without utilizing meters for accurate billing.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City alone owes a substantial sum of NPR 1,031,629,877 to the NEA.

Other major municipalities are also among the debtors, with Biratnagar Metropolitan Municipality owing NPR 86,668,707, Lalitpur Metropolitan Municipality owing NPR 244,413,047, Birgunj Metropolitan Municipality owing NPR 172,869,465, Pokhara Metropolitan Municipality owing NPR 13,351,472, and Bharatpur Metropolitan Municipality owing NPR 10,062,330 in unpaid street light fees.