Power distributor MSEDCL has been fined Rs 1 lakh by Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (ATE) for trying to mislead it on open access. A few months ago MSEDCL had been fined for delaying open access licence to Indo Rama Synthetics.
The MSEDCL is just not ready to grant open access to industries. It is opposing Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) draft open access regulations through all possible channels. This overzealousness proved costly.
MERC had issued an order in 2010 in favour of open access. MSEDCL filed a review petition against it on August 25, 2010. Even before MERC had pronounced an order, the company filed a petition before ATE in March 2011 seeking to quash MERC's order. If this was not enough, it also filed two petitions in Bombay high court. The HC dismissed its petition for interim relief following which MSEDCL approached the Supreme Court where it did not get any success. The HC is yet to pronounce its final judgment on open access.
MSEDCL did not bother to inform ATE about it. When the matter came up for hearing MERC counsel Buddy Ranganathan pointed this out. The tribunal took cognizance of this fact and blasted MSEDCL's conduct in harsh words. The ATE said that MSEDCL had not only wasted its time but that of MERC too. It pointed out that in case HC had given an order on open access ATE's role in this matter would have become infructuous and vice-versa.
ATE ordered MSEDCL to deposit a fine of Rs 1 lakh to MERC immediately. RB Goenka of Vidarbha Industries Association (VIA) expressed exasperation over MSEDCL's stand. "It is high time that the state government takes this issue seriously. MSEDCL is getting penalized too often," he said.
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