The Electricity Bill, 2003 passed by Parliament promises to usher in sweeping changes. The Bill seeks to provide a legal framework for enabling reforms and restructuring of the power sector. It simplifies administrative procedures by integrating the Indian Electricity Act, 1910, the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 and the Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act, 1998 into a single Act. The Bill has become an Act now after the Presidential assent and notification by the Ministry of Power on June 10, 2003. The Electricity Act, 2003 is based on the principles of promoting competition, protecting consumers’ interests and providing power to all. The Act has freed the generation of electricity from licensing, and has liberalized the captive power policy. Moreover, it provides open access to transmission and distribution network, and has laidout the stringent penalties for power theft. The new legislation can usher in paradigm shifts in the power sector. Competition will be possible not just in generation,but also in every facet of the sector including distribution. Moreover, private sector investment will be facilitated by greater transparency that will come about. The Bill is a consolidation of the laws relating to generation, transmission, distribution, trading and use of electricity and facilitates all measures that are conducive for the development of the sector.
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Paper provided by EconWPA in its series Law and Economics with number
0505005.