The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) on July 21, 2022 issued the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh (Conduct of Business) Regulations, 2022 which shall be applicable to entire Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh.
The foremost provisions of the regulations are as followed:
• Commission to have seal of its own
(1) There shall be a separate seal indicating that it is the seal of the Commission.
(2) Every order or communication made, notice issued or certified copy granted by the Commission shall be stamped with the seal of the Commission and shall be certified by the Secretary or an Officer designated for the purpose.
• Officers/Staff of the Commission
(1) The commission shall have Power to appoint Secretary, officers and other employees for discharging various duties. It may also prescribe the qualifications, experiences and other terms and conditions for the appointment of such officers and other employees.
(2) The Secretary shall be the Principal Officer of the Commission and shall exercise his/her powers and perform his/her duties under the supervision and control of the Chairperson. The Secretary shall exercise such functions as are assigned to him by these regulations or otherwise by the Chairperson or by the Commission. The Secretary shall have the custody of the seal and records of the Commission.
(3) The Commission may appoint or engage Consultants to assist the Commission in the discharge of its functions.
(4) The Commission shall, at all times have the authority, either on the application made by any interested or affected party or Suo-motu, to review, revoke, revise, modify, amend alter or otherwise change any order made or action taken by the Secretary or the Officer of the Commission, if Commission consider the same to be appropriate.
• Procedure for holding meetings/ hearings/ proceedings
(1) The Commission shall meet at the head office or any other place at such time as the Chairperson may direct, and shall observe such rules of procedure in this regard to the transaction of business at its meetings as the Commission may specify.
(2) The Chairperson shall determine the stages, manner, the place, the date and the time of the meetings/ hearings/ proceedings of the matter as the Chairperson may consider appropriate.
(3) The meetings/ hearings/ proceedings once scheduled shall ordinarily not be rescheduled except by the Chairperson in accordance with regulation 9(2) after recording the reasons in writing.
(4) The Chairperson, or if he is unable to attend a meeting of the Commission, any other Member nominated by the Chairperson in this behalf and, in the absence of such nomination or where there is no Chairperson, any Member chosen by the Members present from amongst themselves, shall preside at the meeting.
(5) Every Member of the Commission shall have one vote. All questions which come up before the Commission shall be decided by a majority of votes of the Members present and voting, and in the event of an equality of votes the Chairperson or in his/her absence the member presiding shall have a second or casting vote.
(6) The Commission may decide any urgent issue by circulation provided the decision is unanimous and the issue does not require further discussion. Where the decision is not unanimous, or if any member or the Chairperson is of the opinion that the matter requires further discussion, the matter shall be decided by the Commission in a meeting to be convened and conducted in accordance with regulation 9(2).
(7) Decisions taken in a meeting of the Commission shall be recorded in the minutes in a clear and concise manner along with reasons. In case the minutes record any statement/submission made by an invitee, a copy of the minutes shall be sent to such invitee;
(8) The minutes of the meeting shall be confirmed by circulation after the meeting or at the next meeting of the Commission;
(9) All orders and decisions of the Commission shall be authenticated by its Secretary or any other officer of the Commission duly authorized by the Chairperson in this behalf.
(10) The Secretary or in his/her absence any Officer designated as such in accordance with regulation 8, shall record the minutes of the meetings and maintain a register which will, amongst other things, contain the names and designation of Members and invitees present in the meeting, a record of proceedings and notes of dissent, if any. The draft minutes shall, as soon as practicable, be sent to the Chairperson and/or the attending Member(s) for their approval.
• Participation of Consumers Association or Other Petitioners
(1) The Commission may permit any persons/ group of persons including any group of consumers to participate in any proceedings before the Commission on such terms and conditions including in regard to the nature and extent of participation as the Commission may consider appropriate.
(2) The Commission may, as and when considered appropriate, notify a procedure for empanelment of associations, groups, forums or bodies corporate as empaneled consumer association for the purpose of representation before the Commission.
(3) The Commission may appoint any officer or any other person to represent consumers' interest if considered necessary.
(4) The Commission may direct payment to the person appointed to represent the consumers‟ interest, not being an officer, such fees, costs and expense by such of the parties in the proceedings as the Commission may consider appropriate.
• Presentation and scrutiny of the pleadings, etc.
(1) Pleadings shall be filed in such number of copies as specified in Regulation 13, and each copy shall be complete in all respects. In case of Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) and tariff applications or where any agreement or license application is being filed before the Commission for which an approval is being sought, one soft copy of each application in word format shall also be filed along with the petition.
(2) Pleadings shall be presented during working hours of the Commission in person or by any duly authorised agent or representative, at the headquarters or such other filing Centre or centres as may be notified by the Commission from time to time. Pleadings may also be sent by registered post with acknowledgement due to the Commission at the places mentioned above. The vakalatnama in favour of the advocate and, in the event the Pleadings are presented by an authorised agent or representative, the agent’s or representative’s authority shall be filed along with the relevant Pleading, if not already filed on the record of the case.
(3) Upon the receipt of a Pleading the Receiving Officer shall acknowledge the receipt by stamping and endorsing the date on which the Pleading has been presented and shall issue an acknowledgement with stamp and date to the person filing the Pleading. In case the Pleading is received by registered post the date on which the Pleading is actually received at the office of the Commission shall be taken as the date of the presentation of the Pleading. The presentation and the receipt of the Pleading shall be duly entered in the register maintained for the purpose by the relevant filing Centre of the Commission.
(4) The Receiving Officer will review Pleadings for completeness and may decline to accept any pleading that does not conform to the provisions of the Act or the Regulations or directions given by the Commission or is otherwise defective or which is presented otherwise than in accordance with the Regulations or directions of the Commission.
(a) No Pleading shall be refused for defect in its form or content, without giving an opportunity to the person filing it to rectify the defect.
(b) The Receiving Officer shall advise in writing the person filing the Pleading of any defects and the time allowed to rectify them.
(c) A party aggrieved by any order of the Receiving Officer in regard to the presentation of a Pleading may request the matter to be placed before the Secretary of the Commission for appropriate orders.
(5) The Chairperson or any Member as the Chairperson may designate for the purpose shall be entitled to, either on an application made by any person or Suo motu, call for the Pleading presented by the party and give such directions regarding the presentation and acceptance of the Pleading as he considers appropriate.
• Filing of reply, opposition, objections, etc.
(1) Each person to whom a notice initiating Proceedings is issued (hereinafter the respondent) who intends to respond to the notice, whether in support of or in opposition to the petitioner or applicant, shall file its reply and the documents relied upon within such period and in such number of copies as specified by the Commission in Regulation 13. In its reply, the respondent shall specifically admit, deny or explain the facts stated in the notice initiating the Proceedings and may also state such additional facts as he considers necessary for just decision of the case. The reply shall be signed and verified and supported by affidavit in the same manner as in the case of the Petition. The respondent shall also indicate whether he wishes to participate in person in the Proceedings and be heard.
(2) The respondent shall serve a copy of the reply along with the documents duly attested to be true copies on the petitioner or his authorised representative and such other person as the Commission may specify, and file proof of such service with the office of the Commission at the time of filing the reply.
(3) Where the respondent states additional facts as may be necessary for the just decision of the case, the Commission may allow the petitioner to file a rejoinder to the reply filed by the respondents. The procedure mentioned above for filing of the reply shall apply mutatis mutandis to the filing of the rejoinder.
(4) Every person who intends to file an objection or comments in regard to a matter pending before the Commission, pursuant to the advertisement and publication issued for the purpose (other than the persons to whom notices, processes, etc. have been issued calling for reply) shall deliver to an Officer designated by the Commission a statement of the objection or comments with copies of the documents and evidence in support thereof within the time fixed for the purpose.
(5) The Commission may permit such person or persons as it may consider appropriate to participate in the Proceedings before the Commission (hereafter, an intervenor) if, on the report received from the Officer, the Commission considers that the participation of such person or persons will facilitate the Proceedings and the decision in the matter. The Commission shall determine the extent to which intervenors shall be entitled to receive copies of pleadings.
(6) Unless permitted by the Commission, the person filing a reply, objection or comments under this Regulation shall not be entitled to participate in the Proceedings. However, the Commission shall be entitled to take into account the objections and comments filed after giving such opportunity to the parties in the Proceedings as the Commission consider appropriate to respond to the reply, objections, and comments.
Power of the Commission to call for further information, evidence, etc.
(1) The Commission may, at any time before passing orders on the matter, require the parties or any one or more of them or any other person whom the Commission considers appropriate, to produce such documentary or other evidence as the Commission may consider necessary for the purpose of enabling it to pass orders.
(2) The Commission may direct the summoning of the witnesses, discovery and production of any document or other material objects producible in evidence, requisition of any public record from any office, examination by an Officer of the books, accounts or other documents or information in the custody or control of any person, which the Commission considers relevant for the matter.
• Arbitration of Disputes
Where any matter is, by or as per the legal framework, directed to be determined by arbitration, the matter shall, unless it is otherwise expressly provided in the license of a licensee, be determined by such person or persons as the Commission may nominate in that behalf on the application of either party; but in all other respects the arbitration shall be subject to the provisions of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 (26 of 1996).
• Adjudication of Disputes
Where any matter is required to be adjudicated upon by the Commission as per the applicable legal framework, any party to such a dispute in respect of matters provided under the Act may apply to the Commission for the dispute to be adjudged. Upon receiving an application for adjudication of disputes, the Commission shall issue a notice to the other parties to the dispute and such other persons, as the Commission considers appropriate to show cause as to why the dispute should not be settled through adjudication.
(1) The Commission may, after hearing the parties to whom notices have been issued under regulation 27(6) and if satisfied that no reason or cause has been shown against the proposed adjudication, pass an order directing that the dispute or the matter be referred for adjudication by a member to be appointed by the Commission.
(2) The procedure for adjudication and settlement to be followed shall be, as far as possible, the same as in the case of hearing before the Commission provided for in Chapter II above and as provided under Section 143 and 144 of the Act.
(3) While holding an enquiry, the adjudicating officer shall have the power to summon and enforce attendance of any person acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case to give evidence or produce any documents which in the opinion of the adjudicating officer may be useful for or relevant to the subject matter of the enquiry.
(4) The Adjudicating Officer after hearing the parties shall pass a speaking award giving reasons for the decision on all issues arising for adjudication and impose the penalty as provided in the Act.
(5) The cost of the adjudication and proceedings before the Adjudicating Officer shall be borne by such parties and in such sums as the Adjudicating Officer may direct.
(6) The Adjudicating Officer may pass such interim orders in the matter as the he may consider appropriate at any time before or during the pendency of the proceedings before the Adjudicating Officer.
• Application for license
Every application for a license under Section 14 of the Act shall be dealt within the framework of these regulations and the licensing regulations.
• General power to amend
The Commission shall be entitled from time to time to add, amend, alter or vary these Regulations.
• Power to remove difficulties
If any difficulty arises in giving effect to any of the provisions of these Regulations, the Commission may, by general or special order, do anything not being inconsistent with the provisions of the Act, which appears to it to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of removing the difficulty.
In case of any difficulty in interpretation of these Regulations the same shall be done by the Commission in accordance with the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003. In case of any conflict between the provisions of these regulations and the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003, the provisions of the Act shall prevail in all cases.
• Power to dispense with the requirement of the Regulations
The Commission shall have the power, for reasons to be recorded in writing and with notice to the affected parties, to dispense with the requirements of any of the Regulations in a specific case or cases subject to such terms and conditions as may be specified.
• Effect of non-compliance
Failure to comply with any requirement of these Regulations, practice directions or guidelines shall not invalidate any Proceedings merely by reason of such failure unless the Commission is of the view that such failure has resulted in miscarriage of justice.
*Disclaimer – Kindly Find FORM 1 and FORM 2 in the annexure of the provided link/document.
[Notification No. JERC-JKL/REG/2022/03]
