Power ministry notifies Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020

The Ministry of Power (MoP) has notified the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, laying down standards of services to be provided by discoms to consumers. The rules also call for the payment of compensation to consumers in case of power cuts and delays in grant of new connection, among others. The draft rules were earlier issued by the MoP in September 2020. As per the rules, a new connection has to be given within a maximum time period of seven days in metro cities, 15 days in other municipal areas, and 30 days in rural areas. Also, discoms have to supply power 24×7 to all consumers, except agricultural consumers as they do not require continuous power. Discoms are also required to deploy automated systems for monitoring and restoring outages.