The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) has issued showcause notices to three state electricity boards, five state power corporations and eight state power departments for alleged breach of rules on what is known as unscheduled interchange (UI) charge.
The respondents, CERC chairman Pramod Deo told Business Standard, are to reply by January 10.
The notices have gone to the electricity boards of Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand; the power corporations of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu; and power departments of Jammu & Kashmir, Goa, Arunachal, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Daman & Diu.
The CERC says there seems enough ground to charge these entities with defaults in opening letters of credit for the payment of the UI charge. The latter is a commercial mechanism to enforce grid discipline. Hence, CERC rules say the UI payments have high priority and are to be paid within a specified period, normally 10 days after the charge is raised by the relevant regional power committee. There are also penalties specified for delay in the payment.
