1. Bill not put in public domain and not available in the Ministry of Power website.
2. Comments/ objections not invited from public, consumers, states and other stakeholders.
3. No opportunity given to stakeholders to file comments/ objections
4. As electricity is a concurrent subject it is a constitutional requirement for Govt. of India / Ministry of Power to inform all state Govts. And obtain their comments/ objections.
5. Procedure adopted in case of 2020 bill not being followed in 2021 bill.
6. No statement of objects and reason in 2021 bill.
7. The Govt. of India has not officially discarded the 2020 bill , nor has Govt. of India made an official statement that the 2020 bill has been replaced by the 2021 bill.
8. In 2020 bill Govt. of India not only invited the state's comments but also held a power minster’s conference.
9. While Govt. of India claims to follow the principle of digital India, then Govt. of India should have put bill 2021 on website and also a version in Track-change mode.
10. Principles of “TAP” need to be followed by the Government i.e. transparency accountability and participation.
- With the bill not put on the website of the Ministry of Power there is transparency.
- With no information to states and consumers, public there is no participation
- With no statement of objects and reasons there is no accountability of Govt
11. Democracy requires TAP principles to be followed and procedures of dictatorship must not be adopted.
12. Govt. of India / Ministry of Power had excluded the 2020 bill from RTI purview wrongly and illegally thereby defeating transparency of functioning. Now if Govt. of India claims the 2020 bill is discarded/ buried/ scrapped then all pending RTI applications relating to the 2020 bill must be accepted by disclosure of information.
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Changes in Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021 Government will delicense power distribution space to allow multiple suppliers, Existing distribution companies will remain as they are. But now they will be open to competition.Similar to delicensing generation in 2003, now delicensing distribution. Objective is to empower the consumer. System exists for people and not vice versa. - Distribution companies are monopolies . Consumers to have choices. Idea is to open it up by removing restrictions. More companies come in the same areas If they offer better services you and I will choose that company. The regulator will fix only ceiling prices. An amendment in Electricity Act 2003 is proposed to omit the word ‘distribution licensee’ - DBT left out in proposed amendments because of multiple distribution companies, Let that stabilise first. Maybe the system will take care of it. Opening up the power distribution sector. - Providing clarity on renewable purchase obligations. As per Supreme Court - one judge in the central and state electricity regulatory commissions. Against the previously proposed separate Contracts Enforcement Authority, Proposed bill provides for a Separate bench headed by the judge in central and SERC To tackle issues related to reneging of power contracts. Bring changes in the Electricity Act 2003 to set up more benches in Appellate Tribunal for Electricity where there is a huge backlog of cases. Push afresh for GST on electricity Any company wants to take up distribution anywhere, they can. Funding Support, If Discoms are making losses they will not be eligible unless and until they work out a tangible plan to reduce the losses trajactory over 4-5 years with state approval. End result required is 24x7 power supply. 12 hours of supply in rural areas in 2015, the power availability has gone up to an average of 20 hours. Increase in rural areas to near 23 -24 hours is targetted. Discoms to bring down the financial losses to zero. Investments for doing away with human interface in metering, billing and collection through smart meters. Energy accounting, feeder and transforming metering. Discoms to decide how many transformers, HT lines, LT lines they want and how they want to strengthen their infrastructure. First disbursement to start as soon as a plan is received. These are some preliminary observations, more details to follow
Shailendra Dubey Chairman |