KATHMANDU: Kulman Ghising, chairman of the Ujyalo Nepal Party and former energy minister, has called on the government to reverse its decision to impose a 5 percent value-added tax (VAT) on consumers using more than 50 units of electricity per month.
The provision was included in the budget for fiscal year 2026/27 presented by the government on Friday.
In a statement posted on social media, Ghising said the decision runs counter to consumer interests, the country’s energy transition goals, and national efforts to increase the use of domestically produced clean energy.
He argued that most consumers who use more than 50 units of electricity per month are ordinary households, and that the new tax would increase monthly expenses for millions of families while making household energy use more costly.
Ghising also accused the government of penalizing consumers at a time when electricity access and household electricity consumption are steadily expanding across the country.
According to him, the government should be encouraging the use of electricity for cooking, water heating, and other domestic purposes rather than imposing additional tax burdens on consumers.
He further stated that, instead of introducing incentives to boost consumption of domestically generated electricity, the government has adopted a measure that could discourage electricity use and potentially increase dependence on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and other imported fuels.
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