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Electricity Regulatory Commissions, at the State and Central level, are the principal pillars of electricity reforms. The Electricity Act, 2003, which has laid a strong foundation for electricity sector reforms in India, also places a significant emphasis on Electricity Regulatory Commissions. A Central Commission and State level commissions have been constituted. The commissions derive their power and mandate from the statute, viz., the Electricity Act, 2003. Among others, the commissions are quasi-judicial authorities, have powers to frame and enforce rules and regulations, and have the powers of a civil court. There has been a lot of debate on the jurisdictional boundaries of the regulatory commissions. Several such cases have come before the Appellate Tribunal of Electricity formed under Section 110 of the Electricity Act, 2003. An analysis of these case laws provides very interesting and valuable insight into the jurisdictional issues. This article presents such an analysis based on 36 case laws covering several appeals tried before the Appellate Tribunal.
The Electricity Act, 2003 (referred to hereafter as `Act') provides a very robust dispute resolution mechanism in terms of Electricity Regulatory Commissions at the State and Central level, and the Appellate Tribunal of Electricity at the National level. There have been several case laws before the Appellate Tribunal wherein very interesting discussion about the roles, responsibilities and the jurisdictional boundary of the State Commissions as well as the Appellate Tribunal have been carried out, and orders have been pronounced. In the following pages, an attempt has been made to revisit the provisions of the Act, and analyze these provisions in detail taking reference of the various case laws that have been tried and disposed off by the Appellate Tribunal.
Electricity Regulatory Commissions, at the Central and State levels, form a very important pillar of electricity sector reforms as envisaged in the EA 2003.
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