Consumers across the country will now be entitled to a minimum standard of service for supplying electricity. This will also include the right to 24-hour electricity supply, unless otherwise stated for a specific category, such as an agricultural connection.
In announcing the notice of the 2020 Electricity (Consumer Rights) Rules, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Energy and New and Renewable Energy RK Singh said: “Power distribution companies (discoms) throughout the country are monopolies, whether governmental or private – and the consumer has no choice. Therefore, it was necessary for consumer rights to be established in rules and a system to be established to enforce these rights ”.
These rules establish the rights of consumers and the obligations of distribution licensees, release of a new connection and modification of the existing connection, metering, billing and payment arrangement, among others.
An automatic compensation mechanism will be put in place. It will include no supply to a consumer beyond a specified duration and a certain number of interruptions in supply, which will be specified by the regulatory commission.
“The distribution licensee must supply 24×7 power to all consumers. However, the commission may specify lower supply hours for some categories of consumers such as agriculture, “said an official statement.
According to Union Power Secretary Sanjiv N Sahai, this relaxation has been allowed as the pumps must run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to supply water to the fields.
The rules established that it is the duty of every distribution licensee to supply electricity at the request of an owner or occupant of any premises in accordance with the provisions of the Law. The new connection must be carried out within a maximum period of seven days in metropolitan cities, 15 days in other municipal areas and 30 days in rural areas.
Responding to a Business Standard query on the applicability of these rules for state government controlled power outages, Singh said: “Electricity is a concurrent issue and the Center has the power to make rules that everyone must enforce. These rights have been notified. Now it is the responsibility of the uncomfortable to inform consumers of these rules. “
Singh said state electricity regulatory commissions (SERCs) can specify stricter time frames and quality of service parameters, but cannot relax these rights to consumers.
“Being an imposition from above, the rules will have the effect of creating conflict and inconsistency with the performance standards already framed / specified by the SERCs. In this context, the rules seem to affect the exclusive domain of the SERCs. The custodian (s) of consumer rights and interests under the Electricity Act of 2003 are the regulatory commissions at the central and state level, ”said Anupam Varma, partner at J Sagar Associates.
These rules are based on the draft published in September this year. Singh said that nearly 100 suggestions were received on the draft and have been incorporated into the final rules.
The rules also recognize the consumer as a prosumer, whereby prosumers will maintain consumer status and have the same rights as a general consumer. They will also have the right to install a renewable energy generating unit, including rooftop solar photovoltaic systems, either on their own or through a service provider. It also enables net metering for loads up to 10 kilowatts (kW) and gross metering for loads greater than 10 kW.
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