The government on Friday notified late payment surcharge rules under which discoms with outstanding amounts of over Rs 10,000 crore have been offered to settle the amount in 48 monthly installments.
The Electricity (Delay Payment Surcharge and Related Matters) Rules, 2022 are applicable to the outstanding dues of Gencos, Inter-State Transmission Licensees and Electricity Business Licensees. Last month, the power ministry said it was working on a plan to clear past dues of discoms, an issue that affects the entire value chain of the power sector. This will help the discoms to save Rs 19,833 crore. As of June 6, the total dues of discoms stood at ₹1.04 lakh crore. The rationale is that the delay in payment by discoms to Genco adversely affects the cash flow of Genco, which has to make provision for supplying inputs like coal, and having sufficient working capital for day-to-day operations.
the scheme
Under the newly notified norms, the total outstanding including late payment surcharge as on the date of notification of these rules will be rescheduled and due dates for payment by the discoms in maximum equated monthly installments will be rescheduled. Under this, maximum equated monthly installments have been offered to discoms with outstanding balances above Rs 10,000 crore. Such entities have been given 48 months to clear the dues. Similarly, 40 monthly installments have been given to discoms with arrears of ₹4,001-10,000 crore, while those with arrears of ₹2,001-4,000 crore and ₹1,000-2,000 crore have been given 34 months and 28 months, respectively. , Discoms with arrears of up to ₹500 crore can avail this scheme and pay their dues in 12 monthly installments, while those with arrears in the range of ₹501-1,000 crore get 20 monthly installments to clear the bill. Huh.
late payment surcharge
Late payment surcharge shall be payable at the base rate of late payment surcharge applicable for the period of first month of default on the outstanding payment after the due date. The rate of late payment surcharge will increase by 0.5 per cent for consecutive months of default. Percentage for each month’s delay provided that the late payment surcharge shall not at any point of time exceed three per cent of the Base Rate. Late payment surcharges are charges payable by a Discom to Genco or the electricity trading licensee for electricity received from it, or by the user of the transmission system on account of delay in payment of monthly fee beyond the due date to the transmission licensee.
Published on
June 04, 2022