The Ministry of Power has suggested amendments to Rule 7 and Rule 9 of the Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) Rules, 2022 in order to strengthen payment discipline by DISCOMs to generators and to enable better utilisation of un-requisitioned capacity.

Prayas (Energy Group)'s comments on the Draft Late Payment Surcharge (LPS) and Related Matters (Amendment) Rules 2023, proposed by the Ministry of Power, emphasize the need for clarity and feasibility in the implementation of the amendments to Rules 7 and 9 of the 2022 LPS Rules. 

Suggestions were made to address two key implementation challenges:

• Allowing sufficient time for DISCOMs to obtain a stay in case of disputed amounts from the appropriate authority.
• Accounting for significant variation in approved and actual energy charges in bidding framework and gain and loss sharing for URS capacity.

The aim of these suggestions  is towards a fair and balanced system that serves the interests of both DISCOMs and generators in an equitable and fair manner.