Energy Minister Deepak Khadka has said that Nepal Electricity Authority will collect dues from industrialists who have consumed electricity from dedicated and trunk lines in accordance with the rules.

In Monday's meeting of the House of Representatives, Khadka said that it is the authority's responsibility to collect the arrears while answering the question raised by the parliamentarians during the discussion on the allocation of the ministry.

'What has happened to the dedicated line, you have asked why the money has not been raised . This is a matter to be addressed by the authority regarding the dedicated line . Due to the long-standing deadlock, the government had instructed that the consumers should check the amount of electricity consumed in a procedural manner based on the Red Commission, and collect the money immediately, Khadka said. I hope the arrears will be collected in a regular manner soon.'

When Khadka became the energy minister in the UML and Congress coalition government under the leadership of KP Sharma Oli, the dedicated and trunk line dispute was a controversial issue. Industrialists consumed electricity through dedicated and trunk lines during load shedding in Nepal, but they did not pay the tariff.  

When the then Managing Director of Nepal Electricity Authority, Kulman Ghising, started cutting the line of non-paying industrialists, Prime Minister Oli and Energy Minister Khadka also moved the Public Accounts Committee. At that time, he instructed to cut off the line of the industry that did not pay the dues of electricity and pay the bill immediately.