AERC Orders Grievance Redressal On DSM Invoices Through Grid Code Committee In Assam

The Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission (AERC) issued an order on June 10, 2025, in response to Petition No. 25/2024 filed by M/s Emami Limited. The company had raised concerns regarding the issuance of deviation settlement mechanism (DSM) invoices by the Assam State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC) for December 2023 and January 2024. Emami argued that the SLDC’s actions violated the Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission’s Open Access Regulations, 2018, and Deviation Settlement Regulations, 2019.

Emami Limited, an embedded consumer of Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) with a contract demand of 2400 kVA, stated that it availed open access only between December 18 to 27, 2023. For the rest of the period, it drew power only from APDCL and did not exceed its contract demand. Despite this, SLDC raised DSM invoices for the period from December 15, 2023, to January 31, 2024. Emami claimed that these invoices were illegal, as no open access drawal occurred during the time covered by the invoices.

The company further argued that it was penalized for failing to declare a schedule from APDCL during non-open access periods, even though such a declaration is not required by law. Emami stated that under existing regulations, deviation charges apply only when an open-access consumer exceeds the scheduled load, and not when drawing within its contracted limits from the distribution licensee. The company also opposed SLDC’s refusal to allow revision of APDCL drawal schedules, claiming it contradicts state regulations and restricts its right to draw up to the contract demand.

Additionally, Emami challenged SLDC’s DSM methodology for deviating from Regulation 32 of the Open Access Regulations, 2018, which outlines a specific order of priority for energy drawal adjustment. The company claimed SLDC wrongly included APDCL-sourced power while calculating deviations, which is not covered under the DSM framework.

SLDC, in response, defended its position stating that the consumer had obtained No Objection Certificates (NOCs) for open access during the period in question, and as per Clause 5 of the approved Detailed Operating Procedure, non-submission of schedule results in a “zero schedule.” Any drawal against such a schedule is treated as a deviation. SLDC also stated that technical constraints prevent real-time separation of APDCL and open access power drawal due to current metering limitations.

The Commission observed that Emami had bypassed the prescribed grievance redressal mechanism by not approaching the Grid Code Management Committee (GCMC) before filing the petition. As per Regulation 39 of the Open Access Regulations, 2018, such disputes must first be presented to the GCMC for resolution.

The Commission directed M/s Emami Limited to approach the GCMC to seek redressal of its grievances. The Committee has been instructed to resolve the issue within one month of receiving the petition and review the detailed procedure for DSM in light of existing regulations.