Through a recent amendment, the Ministry of Power has incorporated enabling provisions in the electricity consumer rules, which will accelerate solar rooftop development in the country as well as empower electricity consumers.
While solar rooftop PV (SRPV) systems of up to 10 kW capacity have been exempted from the requirement of technical feasibility study, for systems of more than 10 kW capacity, the timeline for completing the feasibility study has been reduced from 20 days to 15 days.
This announcement promises to create an enabling ecosystem for SRPV installations and follows closely on the launch of the PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, which aims to provide households with a subsidy of up to 40 per cent for these systems.
The latest amendment to the consumer rules has also introduced provisions to allow electricity consumers in cooperative group housing societies, multi-storeyed buildings and residential colonies to choose between having an individual connection (for everyone) or a single-point connection for the entire premises.
The timeline for obtaining new connections (or modifying an existing one) has been tightened. In metropolitan areas, it has been reduced from 7 days to 3 days, in other municipal areas from 15 days to 7 days, and in rural areas from 30 days to 15 days. In addition, in case a consumer complains of faulty meter readings, the new meter is required to be installed within 5 days, which would be used to verify the complaint for a minimum period of three months.
Notably, for the first time, electric vehicles have been mentioned in the rules. Discoms are required to provide a separate connection for the supply of electricity to an EV charging point if requested by a consumer.
The new rules underscore two key priorities of the government – to support a just energy transition in the country, and to empower consumers and ensure a speedy redressal of grievances.