Central Power Ministry Notifies Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020

The Central Ministry of Power has notified the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020.

As per Rule 3, it is the duty of every distribution licensee to supply electricity on request made by an owner or occupier of any premises in line with the provisions of Act. Also, it is the right of consumer to have minimum standards of service for supply of electricity from the distribution licensee in accordance with the provisions made in these rules.

Procedure for release of new connection and modification in existing connection, Billing and payment, Method of payment of Bills, Advance payment of bills, Reliability of supply, Disconnection and reconnection etc. are dealt with in the new Rules. The Rules mandates that a meter shall be the smart prepayment meter or pre-payment meter.  Bill amount of more than one thousand rupees or an amount specified by the Commission shall mandatorily be paid online.

Rules provide that a Consumer shall be automatically compensated for those parameters which can be monitored remotely when it can be successfully established that there is a default in performance of the distribution licensee. State Electricity Regulatory Commission, as per the new Rules has to notify the standards of performance for the distribution licensees. The distribution licensee has to supply 24x7 power to all consumers. It also has to put in place a mechanism, preferably with automated tools to the extent possible, for monitoring and restoring outages. 

The distribution licensee, as per the new rules has to establish Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF) and 24x7 toll-free call Centre for Consumer Services. 

The Rules define Prosumer as a person who consumes electricity from the grid and can also inject electricity into the grid for distribution licensee, using same point of supply. While the prosumers will maintain consumer status and have the same rights as the general consumer, they will also have right to set up Renewable Energy (RE) generation unit including roof top solar photovoltaic (PV) systems – either by himself or through a service provider.

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