NEA Fails to Recover Rs 52 Billion in Total Arrears; Flagged for Unapproved Investments
The Office of the Auditor General’s 63rd annual report has exposed massive structural and financial loopholes within the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). Chief among the findings is a strict order to collect Rs 26.03 Billion from 59 premium industrial consumers, alongside revelations of Rs 56 Billion in unauthorized corporate investments and severe losses in equipment procurement.
The 63rd Annual Audit Report presents a challenging financial landscape for the country's sole power utility. The NEA's total outstanding revenue collection has degraded by 7.77% year-on-year to Rs 52.01 Billion. This deficit is heavily driven by 59 premium industrial lines that account for Rs 26.03 Billion in unpaid tariffs, headlined by Jagdamba Steel's outstanding liability of Rs 1.54 Arba. The public sector is also a major contributor to this cash-flow bottleneck, with municipal street light arrears climbing to Rs 7.73 Billion (led by Kathmandu Metropolitan City's Rs 1.99 Arba liability). Beyond balance sheet receivables, the Auditor General raised serious institutional governance red flags. The utility utilized Rs 56.08 Billion in public funds to finance equity in 35 subsidiaries without standard regulatory authorization from the Government of Nepal. Operationally, structural planning mismatches caused the utility to bleed Rs 1.22 Billion on dry-season cross-border electricity imports due to unexpected domestic shortfalls. To compound these losses, the report details an absolute write-off of Rs 200.8 Million spent on low-grade transformers that failed post-installation; legal arbitration awarded the NEA $967,289 USD in damages, but administrative inertia has left those funds uncollected, resulting in a dead asset portfolio.