The Ministry of Power on June 15, 2023, published the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendment Rules, 2023 to further amend the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020
This shall come into force on June 15, 2023
The following has been amended namely: -
• In rule 5 which states “Billing and payment” for sub-rule (5), the following sub-rule shall be substituted, namely: -
“(5) All types of smart meters shall be read remotely at least once a day and the other pre-payment meters shall be read by an authorized representative of the distribution licensee at least once every three months and the data regarding energy consumption shall be made available to the consumer, through the website or mobile application or Short Message Service and the like, provided that the consumers having smart pre-payment meters shall also be given the data access for checking their consumption and balance amount at least on daily basis.
(5A) After the installation of smart meters, no penalty shall be imposed on the consumer, based on the maximum demand recorded by the smart meter, for the period before the installation date.
(5B) In case the maximum demand recorded by the smart meter exceeds the Sanctioned Load in a month, the bill, for that billing cycle, shall be calculated based on the actual recorded maximum demand and consumers shall be informed of this change in calculation through Short Message Service or mobile application: Provided that the revision of the Sanctioned Load, if any, based on the actual recorded maximum demand shall be as under:
(a) in case of an increase in recorded maximum demand, the lowest of the monthly maximum demand, where the recorded maximum demand has exceeded the sanctioned load limit at least three times during a financial year, shall be considered as the revised Sanctioned Load, and the same shall be automatically reset from the billing cycle in next financial year
(b) in case of a reduction of maximum demand, the revision of sanctioned load shall be done in accordance with the Supply codes/ Standard Operating Procedures issued by the respective Regulatory Commission.
• In Rule 8 which states “Consumer as Prosumer”, the following rules shall be inserted, namely: -
(8A) Time of Day Tariff. -The Time of Day tariff for Commercial and Industrial consumers having maximum demand of more than ten Kilowatt shall be made effective from a date not later than 1st April 2024, and for other consumers except agricultural consumers, the Time of Day tariff shall be made effective not later than 1st April 2025 and a Time of Day tariff shall be made effective immediately after installation of smart meters, for the consumers with smart meters
[Notification No. G.S.R. 437(E)]
