Issues

Committee on Legal Affairs : The Committee would be chaired by Justice S.C. Dwivedi, Chairman, MPERC and include Justices D.G. Kaira, Chairman, GERC, Shri S.C. Mahalik, Chairman, OERC, Shri J.L. Bajaj, Chairman, UPERC and Shri A.R. Ramanathan, Member CERC, as Members.

The mandate of the Committee would be:

• Identify areas of cross-jurisdictions between the centre, states and across regulatory bodies of other sectors.

• Identify contradictions and inadequacies of legal provisioning.

• Propose amendments or alternative mechanisms for making the legal provisions relating to regulation comprehensive, clear and effective.

• Consider issues relating to amendment of the existing electricity laws in the context of the work being done by the NCAER on behalf of the Govt. of India.

Committee on Tariffs : The Committee would be chaired by Shri P. Subrahmanayam, Chairman, MERC and would have Shri G.S. Rajamani, Member CERC, Shri D. Laxmi Narayana, Member APERC, Shri Ramesh Chandra, Member HERC and Shri D.K. Roy, Member OERC, as Members.

The mandate of the Committee would be:

• Review the broad principles and procedures for tariff determination as available in the ERC Act and related legislation.

• Consider alternative methodologies for tariff determination.

• Propose mechanisms and arrangements for ensuring the adoption of uniform tariff principles, which would meet the objectives of equity, competitiveness, economy and efficiency.

Committee on Competition : The Committee would be chaired by Shri J.L. Bajaj, Chairman, UPERC and would have Prof. S.L. Rao, Chairman CERC, Shri B.M. Oza, Member GERC and Shri R.P. Ganguly, Member WBERC, as Members.

This mandate of the Committee would be;

• Consider the possibility of introducing competition in the electric power industry.

• Propose an agenda for adoption within the constraints of the existing legislation as well as keeping in mind the technological and institutional structure of the power sector in India.

Committee on Communications : The Committee would be chaired by Shri S.C. Mahalik, Chairman, OERC and would have Shri Jayant Deo, Member MERC, Shri D.P. Sinha, Member CERC and Shri Shanti Prasad, Member RERC, as Members.

The mandate of the Committee would be:

• Consider alternatives for ensuring effective communication between utilities, regulators, Government, consumers and civil society groups.

• Examine the potential for adoption of the latest information technology to enable effective data sharing between regulatory commissions and utilities.