As per CII, the Bill proposes to replace all the central acts that are currently governing electricity industry and also facilitate the process of transition in the industry.

The stakeholders in the electricity sector are enthused by the prospect of ushering in a competitive electricity industry, which is the key intent of the Bill.

Outlining some of the issues which need consideration, CII pointed out that while the states have been given time to determine their own pace and priorities for unbundling of SEBs, there is a need to prescribe an overall time frame by which they should unbundle.

The licensees should be given sufficient time and not just one year as proposed in the Bill for disaggregation of accounts for distribution and supply, CII added.

Any one requires electricity supply of more than one mw, CII has suggested, should be allowed to enter into special agreement with any of the three competitors viz. generation, distribution or supply company.

The existing provision only allows special agreement for supply only with distribution company and not with other competitors curtailing the very objective of competition, according to the confederation.

Some of the other issues include the concept of cross subsidy in the wheeling charge of T&D companies should not have any relevance in the matter of open access/transmission tariff.

The general principles and framework of electricity supply code should be uniform across the country and it should be drawn-up by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) for adoption by all the states.

The central transmission company of the state transmission company has the responsibility of planning, design and construction of transmission lines.

The entry of private transmission company will be by way of bids invited by Central/state transmission company for construction and maintenance of specific transmission lines.

The private transmission companies are apprehensive of cherry picking of transmission lines by the center/state transmission companies.

To address the concerns of private transmission companies, CII has suggested that, suitable provisions be made in the Bill which ensure transparency in the privatisation of transmission lines enabling smooth flow of investment in the transmission sector.

The time frame for setting up of a national transmission centre for optimum scheduling and dispatching of electricity among the regional transmission centres should be clearly outlined.

CERC should maintain the function of conciliating in dispute resolution relating to national grid operations.

The proposal to allow national transmission centre to perform the concillation role is tantamount to creating a second parallel regulatory body. There should be provisions for making the regulator financially independent and not making it depend on the consolidated fund of India.Provisions related to the consultation process for policy directions to the concerned commissions should be looked into. Absence of such provisions is tantamount to interfering with functional autonomy of the Commission.

The Centre/state electricity regulatory commission should be given prescribed time period to review their decisions/orders to redress any errors or rulings. The provision could reduce undue appeals against the orders of the Commission.

For expeditious adjudication, appeals against the orders of a commission should be heard in specially constituted appellate tribunals whose members should possess expertise in legal, financial and technical matters. Since the appeals will have specific technical and economic elements it would be desirable if jurisdiction of consumer forums are excluded.

CII has, therefore, recommended that the provisions covering these aspects need to be drafted and relevant provisions through amendments to be incorporated to ensure that the new law achieves it's desired objectives.

CII has pointed out that the Bill has several welcome measures like electricity generation to be governed by market forces; introduction of intermediaries to enable better utilisation of capacities and encourage market based operations; permitting T&D companies to use their network and assets for foray into other businesses; compulsory metering; safeguard for consumer interest; and creation of bulk electricity spot markets.