Rooftop Solar: GERC Asks Discom To Return Illegally Collected Banking Charges

In a recent judgment, the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) has asked the state discom to refund the banking charges collected from a net-metering consumer in the state. The state power regulator said that charges were collected from the consumer against the existing norms in the state.

The case came to the fore after Surya Roshni Limited, which commissioned a 750 kWp rooftop solar project in Kutch in May 2022, alleged that the state discom collected banking charges to the tune of Rs 4.3 crore in contravention of the existing rules, which barred such charges. The petitioner said that, as per the Net-Metering (Second Amendment) Regulations, these charges were not allowed. The project was commissioned just weeks before the Net-Metering (Third Amendment) Regulations, which introduced banking charges from May 31, 2022.

The respondent in the case—Paschim Gujarat Vij Company Ltd. (PGVCL)—countered that its interconnection agreement with the company, signed on May 7, 2022, expressly provided for banking charges, citing a prior GERC order to support its case.

However, the GERC stood with the petitioner, going strictly by the law. The state power regulator said that as the project was commissioned before May 31, 2022, it was governed by the 2020 regulations, which did not provide for banking charges for rooftop solar consumers. It termed the levying of charges by PGVCL as “not legal and not valid.”

“We direct the Respondent PGVCL to amend the Inter-connection agreement executed with the Petitioner in accordance with the provisions of Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (Net Metering Rooftop Solar PV Grid Interactive Systems) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2020 as applicable as on date of commissioning of said Solar PV Project owned and installed by the Petitioner and take the consequential actions such as giving the adjustment of excess charges/amount recovered from the Petitioner and/or shortfall in recovery of charges/amount from the Petitioner, as the case may be, in the electricity bill of the Petitioner as a result of applicability of the aforesaid Regulations with respect to energy accounting and settlement, compliance of ceiling limit for solar power project capacity, billing and banking facility, payment of Surplus Injection Charges etc., as applicable,” the GERC order said.