Thiruvananthapuram: The Union Government criticized the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) for not following the provisions and rules of the Indian Electricity Act.  The Centre accused the state commission of failing to carry out its orders on schedule, particularly over modification of electricity tariffs.

The Ministry of Power has also stated that the KSERC had failed to comply with the time frame set for services such as delivering electrical connections and installing metres, among other things. The Union Ministry requested to hear back from the KSERC within the next 15 days.

When KSEB applies for revision in power tariff, KSERC is required to issue an order in response within 120 days. However, the Centre claims that KSERC has failed to issue orders this year. Meanwhile, it is learned that KSERC failed to issue an order due to a case ongoing in the High Court.  

Further, KSERC is said to have violated existing rules by failing to release an order in response to a petition seeking review of the board's income and expenditure accounts for the fiscal year 2021-22.

Meanwhile, the Centre's cross-subsidy tariff policy restricts imposing power rates of more than 20 paise along with the electricity bill. However, the Centre stated that KSERC breached this regulation by collecting more than the permissible amount from small and big-scale industrial consumers in Kerala. 

Neither has Kerala fixed a special rate for Green energy generated from environmentally friendly sources nor adopted a policy for importing green power from outside the state. The Centre, on the other hand, contended that KSERC breached the central regulations by mandating the purchase of a certain quantity of electricity from renewable sources.