GERC Reserves Order On GIFTPCL Petition For HT Billing And LT Metering In GIFT City High-Rises

The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) has reserved its order on a petition filed by GIFT Power Company Limited (GIFTPCL), which is seeking approval for changes to the billing and metering system for high-tension (HTP-I) consumers in high-rise buildings. The matter was heard through a hybrid hearing by a bench comprising Chairman Pankaj Joshi and Member Hiren Shah. The petition focuses on addressing the technical and financial challenges of supplying electricity to modern multi-storey buildings in GIFT City.

During the hearing, counsel for GIFTPCL, Rakesh Inala, explained that many high-rise buildings in the company’s licensed area have different types of electricity consumers. Some buildings have a single institutional consumer with a high-tension connection above 100 kW, while others are mixed-use buildings with both low-tension (LT) and high-tension (HT) consumers. He submitted that the existing regulations require separate LT and HT distribution networks, including individual transformers, kiosks, and metering systems. According to the company, installing such separate infrastructure inside high-rise buildings is not practical because of severe space limitations and would also increase project costs significantly.

To address this issue, GIFTPCL proposed a new arrangement based on practices followed by electricity utilities in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu. Under the proposal, electricity would be supplied at the low-tension voltage level to consumers in high-rise buildings with contract demands of up to 400 kW. However, consumers with contract demands between 150 kW and 400 kW would continue to be billed under the HTP-I tariff category. The company also placed three different options before the Commission for calculating and recovering line losses from such consumers. It requested the Commission to use its inherent powers to relax the existing provisions of the Supply Code and allow this arrangement specifically for GIFT City.

The proposal received mixed responses from other power distribution companies. Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited (UGVCL) and other state distribution utilities requested the Commission to limit the proposed LT metering arrangement to GIFTPCL’s licensed area only. They stated that similar problems do not exist in rural areas and therefore there is no need for a wider application.

Torrent Power Limited did not object to the recovery of line losses but submitted that if such a system is introduced for other distribution companies in the future, it should be restricted to high-rise buildings equipped with a Bus-bar Trunking system. MPSEZ Utilities Limited (MUL) supported the petition and suggested that Clause 3.3 of the GERC Supply Code should be amended to provide similar flexibility to other utilities facing comparable space constraints. However, GIFTPCL clarified that it is not seeking a state-wide amendment and only wants a localized approval for its licensed area in GIFT City.

The Commission also noted that several respondents, including the Utility Users’ Welfare Association, neither appeared during the hearing nor filed written submissions despite receiving notices. At the conclusion of the proceedings, the Commission allowed Torrent Power Limited and other interested parties two weeks to submit their final written arguments. After recording the submissions, the Commission reserved its order, and a final decision will be issued after considering all the arguments and documents placed on record.