Amendments To Electricity Act, 2003

The Electricity (Amendment) Act, 2018 ('Draft Amendments') proposed by Ministry of Power for amending the Electricity Act, 2003 ('the Act'), aims to keep at pace with the changing market dynamics, increasing renewable capacity and challenge of providing quality power supply. Below we explain the major changes introduced in the 2018 avatar of the torch-bearing Act for the power sector and its impact. The Draft Amendments would need comment from the industry and stakeholders before being placed on the floor of the Parliament.

Cheer for Consumers

A key change in this regard is that the Draft Amendments have proposed that in case of power cuts, other than due to force majeure conditions or technical faults, an appropriate penalty will be levied on the distribution company and credited to the account of the respective consumers. In another major change, the draft amendments have proposed that the benefit of reduced tariffs after assets have fully depreciated should be