Bombay High Court
Vodafone Idea Ltd. Pune Thr. Authorized ... vs Maharashtra State Electricity ... on 25 March, 2019
Author: S. M. Modak
Bench: Ravi K. Deshpande, S. M. Modak
1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY:
NAGPUR BENCH : NAGPUR
Writ Petition No. 2401 of 2019
[Vodafone Idea Ltd. Vs. Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution
Co. Ltd. & two others]
Office Notes, Office Memoranda of
Coram, appearances, Court's orders Court's or Judge's orders
or directions and Registrar's orders.
Mr. Sunil Manohar, Senior Adv., with Mr. M. Anilkumar, Adv., for the
petitioner.
----
CORAM : R. K. DESHPANDE AND
S. M. MODAK, JJ.
DATE : 25th March, 2019
Shri Sunil Manohar, learned Senior Adv.,
appearing for the petitioner, submits that the challenge in this petition is to the Notice of Demand dated 22nd February, 2019 issued by the respondent no.2 - Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company asking the petitioner to pay energy bill of Rs. 5,34,60,390/- towards tariff difference from HT-I A [Industrial] to HT-II [Commercial] for the period from March, 2013 to October, 2018 due to non-submission of ITES / Registration / Certificate as per the MERC tariff order 48 of 2016 dated 3rd November, 2016 and the Circular of MSEDCL No. 275 dated 18th November, 2016, ::: Uploaded on - 26/03/2019 ::: Downloaded on - 27/03/2019 02:02:36 ::: 2 as per the HT-II category [Commercial] till the production of permanent registration certificate. A threat is disconnect the power supply is issued if the amount is not paid.
Undisputedly, the petitioner - establishment was classified for the purposes of tariff as an "Industrial Establishment" and the petitioner had been paying the tariff accordingly. The change in categorization of tariff from commercial to industrial took place for the first time as per the policy in the year 2009 as a rebate or concession to promote the information technology and information technology-enabled units. However, in the year 2015, the policy was changed and a replacement was introduced for the first time in Clause [iii] under the heading "B. Fiscal Incentives for IT/ITES Units", as under :-
"iii] Electricity Tariff : IT/ITES units registered with the Directorate of Industries will be supplied power at industrial rates applicable under Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission's [MERC's] tariff orders."
The petitioner obtained the registration in terms of Clause [iii] in the month of October, 2018. In view of this, electricity tariff applicable to the petitioner shall be in terms of Clause [iii] reproduced above from the month of November, 2018. The petitioner undertakes to continue make the payment accordingly.
Relying upon the interim order confirmed by the ::: Uploaded on - 26/03/2019 ::: Downloaded on - 27/03/2019 02:02:36 ::: 3 Appellate Tribunal For Electricity on 12th September, 2017 in several matters, in which the present petitioner is one of the appellants and the orders passed by this Court on 17th August, 2009 in Writ Petition No. 6702 of 2009 and the order dated 22nd October, 2013 passed in Writ Petition No. 9875 of 2015 filed by the present petitioner, and also the provisions of Section 56 (2) of the Electricity Act, 2003, it is urged that retrospective recovery is not permissible. In all these orders, the interim order is passed not to take coercive steps against the petitioner if there is a failure to pay the amount because of the change in the categories.
Issue notice for final disposal of the matter, returnable on 11th June, 2019.
There shall be ad interim relief in terms of Prayer Clause [D] relying upon the undertaking given by the petitioner that the petitioner shall continue to pay regularly the tariff at the industrial rate.
Judge Judge
|hedau|
::: Uploaded on - 26/03/2019 ::: Downloaded on - 27/03/2019 02:02:36 :::