Section 26 in The M.P. Vidyut Sudhar Adhiniyam, 2000
26. Tariffs.
(1)Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, the tariff for intra-State Transmission of electricity and the tariff for sub-transmission, distribution and supply of electricity, grid, wholesale, bulk or retail, as the case may be, in the State (hereinafter referred to as the "tariff"), shall be subject to the provisions of this Act and the tariff shall be determined by the Commission in accordance with the provisions of this Act:Provided that the tariffs and charges set by the Board by notifications No. 05-01/GA/192/A/134, No. 05-01/GA/192/B-1, No. 05-01/GA/192/B-2, No. 05-01/GA/192/C-1, No. 05-01/GA/192/C-2, No. 05-01/GA/192/C-3, No. 05-01/GA/192/D-1, No. 05-01/GA/192D-2, No. 05-01 /GA/192/D-3, No. 05-01/GA/192/E and No. 05-01/G A/192/F, all dated 1st March, 1999 shall be valid and enforceable notwithstanding any order or direction made by the Madhya Pradesh Electricity Regulatory Commission constituted under Section 17 of the Central Act.(2)The Commission shall determine by regulations, the terms and conditions for the fixation of tariff, and in doing so, shall be guided by the following factors, namely :-(a)that the tariff progressively reflect the cost of supply of electricity at an adequate and improving level of efficiency;(b)the factors which would encourage efficiency, economical use of the resources, good performance, optimum investments and other matters which the State Commission considers appropriate for the purpose of this Act;(c)the electricity generation, transmission, distribution and supply are conducted on commercial principles;(d)the interest of the consumers are safeguarded and at the same time, the consumer pay for the use of electricity in a reasonable manner;(e)the principles and their applications provided in Sections 46 and 57 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 (No. 54 of 1948) and the Sixth Schedule thereto; and(f)in the case of the Board the principles under Section 59 of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 are observed :Provided that where the Commission, departs from factors specified in clause (e) it shall record reasons therefor in writing.(3)The holder of each licence and other persons including the Board or its successor body authorised to transmit, sell, distribute or supply electricity wholesale, bulk or retail in the State shall observe the methodologies and procedures specified by the Commission from time to time in calculating the expected revenue from charges which the holder is permitted to recover and in determining tariffs to collect those revenues.(4)If the State Government requires the grant of any subsidy to any consumer or class of consumers in the tariffs which is determined by the State Commission under this section, the State Government shall pay the amount to compensate the person affected by the grant of subsidy in the manner which the Commission may direct, as a condition for the licensee or any other person concerned to implement the subsidy provided for by the State Government.(5)Any retail tariff is determined or implemented under this Act,-(a)shall not show undue preference to any consumer of electricity, but may differentiate according to the consumer's load factor power factor, and total consumption of electricity during any specified period or the time at which supply is required or the geographical position of any area, the nature of supply and the purpose for which the supply is required or paying capacity of category of customers and need for cross subsidisation.(b)shall, except in the case of financially weak consumers who are to be provided limited quantum of electricity at reduced tariff for meeting the basic needs, be in a manner that the existing subsidy given to any class or classes of consumers by charging higher tariff from other class or classes of consumers is progressively reduced and within a period of five years from the commencement of this Act the tariff to any class of consumer shall reflect a minimum of seventy five percent of the licensee's average cost of supply of electricity to that class;(c)shall be just and reasonable and be such as to promote efficiency in the supply and consumption of electricity; and(d)shall satisfy all other relevant provisions of the Act, regulations and conditions of licence.(6)Every licensee shall provide to the Commission, at such time and in such manner, as may be prescribed by the Commission, full details of its calculations for the ensuing financial year of the expected aggregate revenue from charges, which it believes to have been permitted to recover under the tariff and such further information, as the Commission may reasonably require to assess such calculations.(7)(a)The Commission may after a public hearing of the licensee and other interested parties determine the tariff to be charged by the licensee at the time of initial grant of licence and thereafter at such intervals not exceeding three years and in such manner as the Commission may prescribe.(b)The Commission shall be entitled to include in the tariffs of the licensee an amount to he appropriated to Special Funds which the Commission, in its opinion, consider necessary to meet the expenses required for implementing projects to enable supply of electricity to consumers in different places in the area of supply of the licensee.(8)No tariff or part of any tariff which is determined by the Commission and implemented may be revised at the instance of the licensee more than once in any financial year, except in respect of any changes expressly permitted to be revised including under any fuel surcharge formula as may be specified by the Commission in the order determining the tariff. The licensee shall provide details of the proposed revision in tariff to the Commission, together with such further information as the Commission may require. The Commission shall notify its decision on the proposed revision in tariff within ninety days of receipt of all information and after hearing the interested persons.(9)The licensee shall publish in a daily newspaper having circulation in the area of transmission or area of supply and make available to the public on request, the tariff for the transmission or supply of electricity within the area of transmission or supply and such tariff shall take effect only after seven days from the date of such publication.(10)The licensee shall not revise or amend any tariff unless the Commission has approved the amendment and the amended tariff is published in the manner provided in sub-section (9).(11)Notwithstanding anything contained in Sections 46, 57, 57-A and 57-B of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 (54 of 1948) no Rating Committee shall be constituted after the date of commencement of this Act and the Commission shall secure that the licensee complies with the provisions regarding the charges tor the sale of electricity, both wholesale and retail and for connection to and use of their assets or system in accordance with the provisions of this Act.Explanation. - In this section,-(a)"the expected revenue from charges" means the total revenue which a licensee is expected to recover from charges for the level of forecast supply used in the determination under subsection (6), in any financial year, in respect of goods or services supplied to consumers.(b)"Tariff" means a schedule of standard prices for supply of electric energy or charges for specified services, which are applicable to all such specified services provided to the type or types of purchaser or consumer specified in the Tariff.
