The Telangana High Court has granted interim relief to state-run power distributors TGSPDCL and TGNPDCL in a ₹24.1 crore dispute over dues uploaded on the Centre’s PRAAPTI power payment monitoring portal, temporarily stopping coercive recovery action pending a hearing before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL).
Justice EV Venugopal passed the order while hearing a lunch-motion petition filed by the two discoms. The utilities told the court that action based on the disputed invoices could restrict their ability to procure electricity and ultimately affect power supply across Telangana.
The dispute stems from a 1997 power purchase agreement between the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh Electricity Board and Lanco Kondapalli Power Limited. According to the discoms, the generating station was commissioned nearly 27 months late, and disagreements over cost components relating to 2000-01 have remained under litigation for several years.
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) ruled in June in favour of the generator on certain finance and procurement cost claims, along with interest. TGSPDCL and TGNPDCL have challenged that order before APTEL, which is scheduled to hear their appeal on October 28.
While the appeal is pending, the generator uploaded four invoices on the PRAAPTI portal. Counsel for the discoms argued that the invoices relate to historical claims rather than current power supply bills and therefore do not fall under the Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and Related Matters) Rules, 2022. The utilities also challenged a procedure issued by the Centre in 2023 that extended the application of those rules to such invoices.
The discoms told the High Court that the portal’s automated mechanism could trigger action from October 22 if the invoices remained unpaid. They argued that this could restrict their access to electricity exchanges and lead to a phased reduction of contracted power supply by 10% every month.
According to the petitioners, Telangana’s peak power demand has reached 19,892 MW, while external purchases account for around 25% to 30% of the state’s electricity requirement. They submitted that any disruption could affect farmers, domestic consumers and industries.
The utilities sought a declaration that the 2023 procedure was invalid insofar as it covered disputed historical claims. They also asked for the four invoices to be removed from the PRAAPTI portal and sought directions restraining the Centre, portal authorities and grid operators from taking coercive steps until the dispute is resolved.
The High Court’s interim protection applies while the legal challenge proceeds. The next significant milestone is the APTEL hearing scheduled for October 28, when the discoms’ challenge to the CERC order is due to be considered.
