Number of Online Payments for Water and Electricity in Nepal and Plans for Growth

The number of customers paying water and electricity bills online has been increasing in recent years, but not at the expected rate, prompting authorities to encourage more widespread adoption, officials have stated. The Nepal Electricity Authority offers a 2.5 percent discount if payments are made online within seven days.

“To promote online payments, domestic customers who pay online within one week of meter reading will receive the standard 2% discount plus an additional 0.5% reward, totaling a 2.5% discount,” said Executive Director Dhiraj Kumar Shrestha of the authority. According to him, this scheme will be implemented initially for a period of six months.

According to the authority, approximately 38 percent of the roughly 5.5 million customers currently pay their electricity bills online. The online payment service has been in operation for about five years. Although mobile usage is widespread in Nepal, digital literacy remains limited. Customers can pay bills for water, electricity, telephone, and other services through various digital payment providers including banks, e-sewa, Khalti, PhonePe, and Connect IPS.

The authority highlighted that electronic payments increase financial transparency, save customers’ time, and reduce the need for manpower in offices, thus driving the promotion of online payments. At present, 38 percent of domestic electricity consumers make payments online, and there is a goal to increase this number further.

Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Limited (KUKL) has operated online water bill payments for four years. KUKL provides a 3 percent discount if water bills are paid within the same month they are issued, although no special discount is currently offered specifically for online payments. Prakash Kumar Rai, spokesperson for KUKL, noted that among approximately 275,000 domestic consumers in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur, and Lalitpur, more than 50 percent make payments online.