Maharashtra Electricity Duty Act, 2016
No: 26 Dated: Aug, 08 2016
Maharashtra Electricity Duty Act, 2016
ACT No. XXVI OF 2016
An Act to provide for levying a duty on consumption of electrical energy in the State of Maharashtra and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
WHEREAS due to the enactment of the Electricity Act, 2003 by the Central Government, radical changes have been ushered in the management of generation, transmission and supply of electricity, and new concepts like power trading, exchange of power, open access, de-licensing of electricity generation, etc. have been introduced which are not the part of the Maharashtra Electricity Duty Act;
AND WHEREAS after considering the changes made by the said Electricity Act, the Government of Maharashtra considers it expedient to make a comprehensive law to provide for the levy of a duty on consumption of electrical energy in the State of Maharashtra covering all categories of electricity consumers as per the said Electricity Act, by repealing the existing Maharashtra Electricity Duty Act;
It is hereby enacted in the Sixty-seventh Year of the Republic of India as follows :—
1. Short title, extent and commencement:- (1) This Act may be called the Maharashtra Electricity Duty Act, 2016.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Maharashtra.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions:- (1) In this Act, unless the context requires otherwise,—
(a) “Captive generation” means an energy generated from a ‘Captive generating plant’ defined in clause (8) of section 2 of the Electricity Act, and the rules made thereunder by the Central Government in this behalf ;
(b) “Co-generation” means an energy generated in a process, which simultaneously produces two or more forms of useful energy including electricity ;
(c) “Commission” means the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission constituted by the State Government under section 82 of the Electricity Act ;
(d) “consumer” means any person who is supplied with electricity for his own use by a licensee or the Government or by any other person engaged in the business of supplying electricity to the public under the Electricity Act, or any other law for the time being in force and includes any person whose premises are for the time being connected for the purpose of receiving electricity with the works of a licensee, the Government or such other person, as the case may be ;
(e) “consumption charges” means the charges levied by the licensee under this Act for the energy consumed by a consumer which shall include the fixed charges such as demand charges, variable charges such as energy charges, fuel adjustment charges and reliability charges, as per the tariff approved by the Commission, but does not include the penal charges or incentives, for delayed or prompt payment, power factor, harmonics, load factor, interest charged thereof and compounding charges on assessment, as the case may be ;
(f) “Electrical Inspector” means a person appointed by the State Government under sub-section (1) of section 162 of the Electricity Act ;
(g) “Electricity Act” means the Electricity Act, 2003 (36 of 2003);
(h) “Electricity Duty Inspector” means a person appointed by the State Government under sub-section (1) of section 8 ;
(i) “energy” means electrical energy generated, transmitted, distributed, consumed, traded or wheeled for any purpose ;
(j) “generating company” means any company or body corporate or association or a body of individuals, whether incorporated or not, or artificial juridical person, which owns or operates or maintains a generating station ;
(k) “Government” or “State Government” means the Government of Maharashtra ;
(l) “Independent Power Producer (IPP)” means a producer of electrical energy which is not a public utility but which makes electrical energy available for sale to utilities or end users ;
(m) “industry” means an industrial undertaking declared as such under any other law for the time being in force in the State of Maharashtra and includes the industries covered by the various industrial policies declared by the State Government, from time to time ;
(n) “licensee” means a person who has been granted licence under section 14 of the Electricity Act, for transmission, distribution, supply, trading in electricity and includes those who hold status of a deemed licensee and also those exempted under section 13 of the Electricity Act ;
(o) “open access” means the non-discriminatory provision for the use of transmission lines or distribution system or associated facilities with such lines or system by any licensee or consumer or a person engaged in generation in accordance with the regulations made by the Commission ;
(p) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act ;
(q) “Renewable Energy” means the grid quality electricity generated from Renewable Energy Sources, which are a part of earth’s natural environment and can replenish with the passage of time, either through biological reproduction or other naturally recurring processes, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, geothermal heat, biomass, biofuels but does not include fossil fuel;
(r) “Renewable Energy Sources” means the renewable sources such as Mini, Micro and Small Hydro, Wind, Solar, Biomass including Bagasse or Agricultural Waste, Bio-fuel, urban or Municipal Solid Waste, Industrial Waste and such other sources recognised or approved by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy of the Government of India;
(s) “Schedule” means the Schedule appended to this Act;
(t) “Standby generation” means generation of electricity done in absence of existing licensee’s electric supply due to failure or interruption or load shedding or outage taken by electricity supplier on account of maintenance, repairs, but not due to the disconnection of supply in default of payment as per the provisions of section 56 of the Electricity Act ;
(u) “unit” means unit of measurement of energy consumed in Kilowatt per hour (kWh).
(2) Words and expressions used in this Act but not defined herein shall have the same meanings as assigned to them under the Electricity Act, 2003.