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Seeking Comments of Stakeholders on Draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020

Seeking Comments of Stakeholders on Draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020
Start Date :
May 19, 2020
Last Date :
Jun 05, 2020
23:45 PM IST (GMT +5.30 Hrs)
Submission Closed

Ministry of Power has identified few key amendments in the Electricity Act 2003 to address immediate requirements of the electricity sector. Accordingly, draft proposal has been ...

Ministry of Power has identified few key amendments in the Electricity Act 2003 to address immediate requirements of the electricity sector. Accordingly, draft proposal has been circulated on 17.04.2020 in the form of draft Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill 2020 and stakeholders comments sought till 5th June 2020.

1. Establishment of Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority under retired Judge of the High Court for ensuring performance of the contract. The Authority shall have all the powers of a civil court including but limited to powers of attachment and sale of property, arrest and detention in prison and appointment of a receiver. This will ensure faster disposal of adjudicating matters regarding performance of obligations under a contract related to sale, purchase or transmission of electricity.

2. Determination of Cost reflective Tariff for ensuring viability of Electricity Distribution companies (Discoms). the Appropriate Commission to fix tariff for retail sale of electricity without accounting for subsidy; The subsidy, as declared and provided by the State Governments, will be given directly by the government to the consumers clearly reflecting in their bill;

3. Distribution sub licensees: Distribution Licensee may authorise another person, as a sub-license to supply electricity in any particular part of its area of supply, with the permission of the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. This will enable the sub licensee to serve the consumers with full responsibility and due diligence. The distribution licensee will now have the choice to opt for either sub-licensee model or franchisee model. This proposal will bring investment in the distribution sector, ensure regulatory oversight and protect the interests of consumers.

4. Establishment of adequate Payment Security Mechanism : Proposed to empower Load Dispatch Centres to oversee the establishment of adequate payment security mechanism before scheduling dispatch of electricity, as per contracts.

5. Strengthening of the Appellate Tribunal (APTEL): It is proposed to increase its strength of Members, apart from the Chairperson, to at least seven to facilitate quick disposal of cases; also to enhance the powers by assigning power equivalent to High Court under the provisions of the Contempt of Courts Act. With increased strength of members, now APTEL benches can also sit in a place other than Delhi as per the requirement of the case and for easy access to the state.

6. Proposal for Single Selection Committee for giving recommendations for appointments of chairperson and members in central as well as state regulatory commissions for uniformity in selection. The Selection Committee shall be headed by the Judge of Supreme Court .Appointments shall continue to be done by respective Governments.

7. National Renewable Energy Policy: It is proposed to have a separate policy for the development and promotion of generation of electricity from renewable sources of energy.

8. Hydro Power Purchase Obligations (HPO): a minimum percentage of purchase of electricity from hydro sources of energy is to be specified by the State Commissions. Hydro Power purchase Obligations shall be separate part of non solar based Renewable Purchase Obligations.

9. Enforcement of Renewable purchase obligations by levy penalties for non-fulfilment of obligation to buy electricity from renewable and/or hydro sources of energy.

10. Provisions related to Cross border trade in Electricity have been added to facilitate and develop trade in electricity with other countries.

Click here to read the draft bill.

Last date of submission is 5th June,2020.

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Showing 1549 Submission(s)
Dr Guinness Madasamy
Dr Guinness Madasamy 5 years 11 months ago
While setting up a national Renewable Energy Policy: It is not hidden anymore that India has a vast supply of renewable resources and it has one of the largest programs in world for deploying renewable energy products and systems. India is the only country in the world to have an exclusive ministry for renewable energy development, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) which has launched one of the world’s largest and ambitious programs on renewable energy.
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Mairembam Ratan Singh
Mairembam Ratan Singh 5 years 11 months ago
If government can introduce EMM that is Electric Manager Machine just similiar to ATM then it will be convinient for the people.
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Abhash kumar
Abhash kumar 5 years 11 months ago
In the middle of these impending reforms, the ease of implementation of the new regime will be a challenge. [Deepak Kumar Thakur is Partner and Puspak Chamariya is an Associate at law firm L&L Partners (formerly Luthra & Luthra Partners)
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Comments (1)
Abhash kumar
Abhash kumar 5 years 11 months ago
Whereas the provisions of the Amendment are of a permanent nature, with long term planning and large-scale impact, it will be interesting to see the strategy of the Ministry of Power in terms of implementation of the new regime. Tariff and subsidy related measures are aimed at easing the financial crunch of the Discoms. In light of other relief measures and interim announcements to mitigate the hardship caused by the Covid-19situation, the Ministry already has a lot of recovery process to contem
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Abhash kumar
Abhash kumar 5 years 11 months ago
 Applicable to the whole of India: It is needless to mention, that in addition to the above mentioned broad themes that the Amendment seeks to cover, the Act shall now be applicable to the territory which was erstwhile exempted from the State of Jammu and Kashmir.  Whereas the provisions of the Amendment are of a permanent nature, with long term planning and large-scale impact,
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Abhash kumar
Abhash kumar 5 years 11 months ago
Enhancement of the powers of the Appellate Tribunal of Electricity: APTEL is proposed to have the powers of a High Court to deal with wilful disobedience of persons and entities under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971. Additionally, any person can appeal the decisions of the Authority which is introduced by this Amendment in front of the APTEL. The numbers of members at the APTEL have also been proposed to be increased by the Amendment.
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Abhash kumar
Abhash kumar 5 years 11 months ago
Inclusion of Distribution Sub-licensee and Franchisee: To ease the burden of distribution licensees and in order to promote some form of demographic specialization, the distribution licensees, can appoint another entity for distribution of electricity on its behalf, within its area of supply. This entity can be either a distribution sub-license appointed with prior permission of the State Commission or it may be a franchisee appointed by merely informing the State Commission.
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Abhash kumar
Abhash kumar 5 years 11 months ago
Time limit for adoption of tariff so determined: There had been the issue of lazy attempts from the commissions in adopting the tariffs determined, causing issues of cost escalation. To address this problem, the Amendment has prescribed a period of 60 days to adopt the determined tariffs. Failing such timeline of 60 days, the tariff would be deemed to be accepted. Such deemed acceptance is a good method to not allow red-tapism to impact the functioning of the sector. 
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Abhash kumar
Abhash kumar 5 years 11 months ago
Constitution of selection committee to recommend members for commissions/ authorities: There is a slew of provisions for the constitution of a Selection Committee for making recommendations of members to the Appellate Tribunal and the Chairperson and Members of Central Commission, Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority, State Commissions and Joint Commissions. Streamlining of selection process for all commissions and authorities is a step in the right direction, bringing in uniformity.......
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Abhash kumar
Abhash kumar 5 years 11 months ago
) Payment Security: There has been a lack of monitoring system in place vide the Act, which created a void of a check and balance mechanism for the any form of payment security. Lack of payment security mechanism has created a large pool of unpaid dues. To disrupt any future trickle down of such unrealized revenues, this Amendment proposes a mechanism wherein “no electricity shall be scheduled or despatched under such contract unless adequate security of payment as agreed upon by the parties...
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