Madras High Court directs Tangedco to settle due amount to private company in 12 months
The petitioner company has been continuously supplying energy to Tangedco from their respective windmills under the agreement and raising invoices for such supply at the rates noticed from time to time.
Madras High Court
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court (MHC) quashed the notice issued by the State claiming it would pay the outstanding due amount for electricity supply to a private energy company in 48 installments directing the State to pay the due amount in 12 installments with interest.
Allowing a petition moved by Grace Infrastructure, a private windmill electricity company, Justice GK Ilanthirayan wrote that as the outstanding due amount payable to the petitioner is below Rs 500 crore, the number of installments would be 12 and not 48 as claimed by the State, as per the provisions of Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and Related Matters) Rules, 2022.
The judge directed the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) to pay the company the outstanding due amount of Rs 107 crore in 12 installments as per the order passed by the Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission (TNERC).
The petitioner company has been continuously supplying energy to Tangedco from their respective windmills under the agreement and raising invoices for such supply at the rates noticed from time to time. As per the agreement, Tangedco is duty-bound to make payments fully for every invoice within 30 days, failing which they are liable to pay interest at the rate of 1 percent per month. However, Tangedco committed default and huge arrears were pending to the tune of Rs 80 crore.
Hence, the petitioner filed a claim petition with TNERC, and in 2022 it directed Tangedco to comply with the order that the petitioner is entitled to recover more than Rs 107 crore, noted the petitioner.
However, Tangedco failed to comply with the direction, hence the petitioner filed a petition seeking a penalty in terms of Section 142 of the Electricity Act, in which TNERC was ordered to pay 50 percent of the claim amount within 15 days.
Even after the issuance of legal notice, Tangedco failed to comply with the direction issued by the TNERC, said the petitioner.
Instead of complying with the order, Tangedco issued a notice in July 2022, seeking permission to settle the amount in 48 installments, the petitioner contended.
