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Download MADHYA PRADESH ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION BHOPAL JUSTICE SHACHEENDRA DWIVEDI CHAIRMAN SHRI SYED IQBAL HUSAIN, MEMBER(P) SHRI RABINDRA TRIPATHY, MEMBER(E) Petition No. 4/2001IN THE MATTER OFDetermination of Board’s HT & LT tariff applicable for various categories
of consumers for the year
2001-02 Madhya Pradesh State Electricity Board, - Petitioner Shakti Bhawan, Vidyut Nagar, Jabalpur V/sState of Madhya Pradesh, Energy Department, Bhopal AndAll HT and LT Consumers of the State - Respondents PETITION UNDER CLAUSE-62 OF THE M.P.ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION (CONDUCT OF BUSINESS) REGULATIONS, 1999 – FOR DETERMINATION OF TARIFF:
On behalf of State of
1. Shri R.K.Katare,
2. Shri P.K.Chaturvedi,
3. Mr. Ashok Kumar Dhanotya,
On behalf of MPSEB
SHRI D. ROYBARDHAN (Retd. E.D. The Chairman or the Members of MPSEB did not attend any hearing, including all the public hearings, (except Shri R.B. Mishra (Member Distribution) of the Board appointed as such only on 14.7.2001). On behalf of all HT and LT Consumers: The list separately annexed. O R D E R Dated: 26th September 2001 1. INTRODUCTION The Electricity is the dire need of the day. Its generation, transmission, distribution and supply as also the tariff was earlier being managed by the Electricity Boards and the Governments. However, the Central Government on the past experience in this regard found that for properly regulating the electricity industry and, in particular the electricity tariff a separate independent body was required to be constituted. Thus, the Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act, 1998 (The Act) (Act No. 14 of 1998) was enacted by Parliament for constituting the Central and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions with the object of rationalization of electricity tariff, transparent policies regarding subsidies, promotion of efficiency and environmentally benign policies and for other matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. Section 17 sub-section (1) of the Act provided that: “17(1) The State Government may, if it deems fit, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish for the purposes of this Act, a Commission for the State to be known as the (name of the State) Electricity Regulatory Commission.” The State Government of Madhya Pradesh opted to notify the establishment of the State Regulatory Commission, and applied the provisions of the Act, to the State of M.P. The notification in this regard was issued in the State Gazette dated 20/8/98. The appointment of the Chairman and Members of the Commission was further notified in the State Gazette dated 30/1/1999. Section 29(1) of the Act, provided that “….the tariff shall be determined by the State Commission of that State in accordance with the provisions of this Act.” After the above developments, when the question arose for the determination of tariff, the stalemate was caused, not by the Commission but by the M.P.Electricity Board, which continued till the entertainment of the present tariff petition. The Board, even after the provisions of the Act were made applicable to the State of Madhya Pradesh and the Government had notified the establishment of the Commission, proceeded to determine the tariff with the approval of the Government and made it applicable from 1.3.1999. At this stage, before dealing with the present tariff-petition, filed by MPSEB, we propose to point out the circumstances and the legal position due to which this Commission had not entertained the earlier petitions relating to tariff, preferred by the Board, as it had decided the tariff itself after the establishment of the Commission. Such determination of tariff by the Board bypassing the Commission, was challenged by different petitioners before this Commission. The Commission entertained the petitions and sought replies from the Board and the Government. All the parties were heard at length. The Commission by its order dated 6th January, 2000 held that the tariff determination done by the Board with the approval of the Government was against the provisions of Sections 29 and 52 of the Act, hence illegal and without jurisdiction. The order 06-01-2000 was passed in petition No.1 of 1999, M.P.Textile Mills Association, Indore Vs. State of M.P. and M.P. Electricity Board. The order also disposed off the other similar petitions and the legal question involved in some of the petitions. The said order dated 06-01-2000 is being reproduced for ready reference as under:- Quote: “This order shall also dispose of petition Nos. 2,3,4 and 5 of 1999. In another set of petitions Nos. 7, 8 and 9 of 1999, the petitioners, inter alia, on other grounds, have also challenged the jurisdictional competence of respondents – Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board (for short the Board hereafter) and of Government in determining the electricity tariff after the establishment of M.P. Electricity Regulatory Commission by the State Government under the Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act, 1998 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) Since in the former set of petitions, the same legal issue has been raised and forms the sole ground, it was taken up as a preliminary issue in petition Nos. 7,8 and 9 of 1999 and is being decided by this Order. The State Government under Notification dated 18.8.1998 had declared the establishment of the M.P. Electricity Regulatory Commission (for brevity, addressed as Commission in this order) from the date of its publication in M.P.Gazette. The Notification was published in the gazette (Extra-ordinary) on 20.8.1998.
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