With such realisation has come a desire in them to demand more functional autonomy. They fear that without that freedom they cannot fulfil their responsibilities. But the government continues to behave like a spoilsport. It is not letting the regulators to be on their own.
The latest instance of a regulator to come under government pressure is the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). Transgressing its brief, the power ministry has set out detailed tariff guidelines for CERC to follow, instead of just outlining a broad tariff policy.
Even before the detailed tariff norms were made public by the power ministry, state electricity regulatory commissions had made no secret of their opposition to the government move. They wrote letters to the power ministry questioning the government
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper