The Power Ministry today said futures trading in electricity would be regulated by the Central Electricity Regulatory Authority (CERC), a view contested by the Foward Markets Commission (FMC).
"We have resolved the issue. At a recent meeting, it was decided that the futures market of electricity will be handled by the CERC," power secretary HS Brahma told PTI here.
But FMC Chairman B C Khatua contested this saying, "The CERC has accepted that the right to regulate electricity futures rests with the FMC."
Power exchanges, which are keen to start any futures contracts tradeable for more than 11 days, should register with the FMC and it would permit them on its own terms and conditions, he added.
On the contentious issue, both power and consumer affairs ministries have contrasting views and the latter is supporting the FMC.
A senior official with the department of consumer affairs said, "The CERC has accepted that the FMC has power to control the electricity futures."
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"Electricity futures comes under the purview of the CERC," an official with the power regulator said.
The turf war between the two regulators is hurting the business of power bourses as they are finding it difficult to carry on with futures trading in electricity due to authority being exercised by the FMC as well as the CERC.
As the turf war between the Power Ministry and FMC intensified, the issue of regulation of power futures contracts had reached the Bombay High Court, which asked the two parties to approach the high-power committee of secretaries for solution.
At present, electricity futures contracts, which are traded on the MCX platform, are witnessing low liquidity, primarily due to lack of clarity on the regulatory issues.