A proposal to amend the Electricity Act, 2003
("Electricity Act") through the
Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2020
("Amendment") was introduced by the
Ministry of Power, Government of India on April 17, 2020.
In this update, we summarize the key highlights of the proposed
amendments, which are expected to be notified soon.
(I) Enforcement of contracts
Under the Electricity Act presently, there is no specific
provision to deal with issues arising in relation to power purchase
agreements ("PPAs"). To seek better
regulation and adherence to executed PPAs, the Amendment envisages
creation of an Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority
("Enforcement Authority") to supervise
the fulfilment of contractual obligations under a PPA between a
generating company/ power producer and a distribution/ transmission
licensee or between licensees. The Enforcement Authority shall have
sole jurisdiction to decide matters regarding PPA obligations such
as sale, purchase and
