Bihar Gazette, 04 November 2024

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REGISTERED NO. PT.-40 EXTRA ORDINARY

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

13 KARTIKA 1946(S)

(NO.PATNA 1060) PATNA, MONDAY, 4TH NOVEMBER 2024

BIHAR ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSION ——— NOTIFICATION 30th October 2024 No.- BERC-SMP No-16/2024-03—In exercise of powers conferred by sub section (1) of section 181 and clauses (zd), (ze) and(zf) of sub section (2) of section 181, read with sections 32, 61, 62, and 86, of the Electricity Act, 2003 (36 of 2003) and all other powers enabling it in that behalf, the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (herein after referred as "Commission" or "BERC" hereby makes the following Regulations.

PART-I

PRELIMINARY

1. Short Title, Commencement and Extent.

1.1 These Regulations shall be called the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (Multi Year Transmission Tariff and SLDC Charges) Regulations, 2024. 1.2 These Regulations shall come into force from the date of its notification in the Official Gazette.

1.3 These Regulations shall extend to the whole of the state of Bihar.

2. Scope and Extent of Application

2.1 These Regulations shall apply to all the Transmission Licensees and SLDC in the State of Bihar

2.2 These Regulations shall be applicable for determination of transmission tariff and SLDC charges in all cases covered under these Regulations from 1st April 2025 and onwards up to FY 2027-28 (i.e. till 31st March 2028) or till these Regulations are amended.

2.3 These Regulations shall be applicable where the cost based/ Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) based tariff is determined by the Commission.

These Regulations shall not be applicable where tariff has been discovered through tariff based competitive bidding in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Central Government and adopted by the Commission under Section 63 of the Act.

3. Definitions

3.1 In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires: -

1. "Act" means the Electricity Act, 2003 (36 of 2003); 2. "Accounting Statement" means for each Year, the following statements, namely: —

(i) balance sheet, prepared in accordance with BERC (Power Regulatory Accounting) Regulations, 2018, with reference to each licensed or regulated business separately, duly certified by the statutory auditors/ balance sheet, prepared in accordance with the form contained in the Companies Act, 1956 or Companies Act, 2013, as applicable;

(ii) profit and loss account, prepared in accordance with BERC (Power Regulatory Accounting) Regulations, 2018, with reference to each licensed or regulated business separately, duly certified by the statutory auditors/ profit and loss account, complying with the requirements contained in the Companies Act, 1956 or Companies Act, 2013, as applicable;

(iii) cash flow statement, prepared in accordance with BERC (Power Regulatory Accounting) Regulations, 2018, with reference to each licensed or regulated business separately, duly certified by the statutory auditors/ cash flow statement, prepared in accordance with the applicable Accounting Standards of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India;

(iv) report of the statutory auditors; (v) reconciliation statement, duly certified by the statutory auditors, showing the reconciliation between the total expenses, revenue, assets and liabilities, of the entity as a Company and the expenses, revenue, assets and liabilities, separately for each business regulated by the Commission and unregulated business operations;

(vi) cost records prescribed by the Central Government under the Companies Act,1956 or Companies Act, 2013, as applicable; together with notes thereto, and such other supporting statements and information as the Commission may direct: Provided that separate Accounting Statements shall be prepared and submitted to the Commission for each licensed Business in accordance with the Licence conditions, and for each regulated Business. Provided also that, in case separate Accounting Statements are not submitted for each licensed Business in accordance with the Licence conditions and for each regulated Business for the Financial Year (FY) 2025-26 onwards, the Petitions filed by the Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, may be rejected by the Commission after giving the Petitioner a reasonable opportunity of being heard: Provided also that in Case of SLDC, if separate Accounting statement is not available, an allocation statement duly certified by the Statutory Auditor is to be submitted Provided also that the Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, shall submit the Statutory Auditor's comments, observations and notes to Accounts, alongwith the Accounting Statements, and a summary of the key issues highlighted by the Statutory Auditor and the steps taken to address them:

Provided also that till the SLDC remains a part of Bihar State Power Transmission Company Limited (BSPTCL), separate books of accounts for SLDC shall be maintained by the Bihar State Power Transmission Company Limited and shall be audited and certified by the statutory auditor

3. "Audited accounts or Audited Accounting Statements" for the purpose of licensed or regulated business shall mean (Audited) Regulatory Accounts prepared in accordance with BERC (Power Regulatory Accounting) Regulations, 2018.

4. "Additional Capitalisation" means the capital expenditure actually incurred after the date of commercial operation of the transmission system and admitted by the Commission after prudent check subject to Regulation 19 provided herein after;

5. "Aggregate Revenue Requirement" or "ARR" means the costs pertaining to the licensed business which are permitted, in accordance with these Regulations, to be recovered from the tariffs and charges determined by the Commission;

6. "Allocation Statement" means, for each Year, a statement in respect of each of the Other Businesses of the Transmission Licensee undertaken for optimum utilisation of its assets, showing the amounts of any revenue, cost, asset, liability, reserve or provision, etc., which has been charged from or to each such Other Business together with a description of the basis of that charge; or determined by apportionment or allocation between different Businesses of the Transmission Licensee, together with a description of the basis of the apportionment or allocation;

7. "Allotted Transmission Capacity" means the power transfer in MW between the specified point(s) of injection and point(s) of drawal allowed to a long-term customer or a medium-term customer on the intra-State transmission system under the normal circumstances and the expression "allotment of transmission capacity" shall be construed accordingly.

Provided that the Allotted Transmission Capacity to a long-term transmission customer or a medium-term transmission customer shall be sum of the generating capacities allocated to the long-term transmission customer or the medium-term transmission customer from the generating stations and the contracted power, if any;

8. "Auditor" means an auditor appointed by transmission licensee or SLDC as the case may be, in accordance with the provisions of sections 224, 233B and 619 of the Companies Act, 1956 (1of1956), as amended from time to time or Chapter X of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) or any other law for the time being in force;

9. "Authority" means Central Electricity Authority constituted under section 70 of the Electricity Act, 2003;

10. "Availability" in relation to a transmission system for a given period means the time in hours during which period the transmission system is capable to transmit electricity at its rated voltage expressed in percentage of total hours in the given period and shall be calculated as provided in Appendix-II to these Regulations;

11. "Base Year" means the financial year immediately preceding first year of the control period and used for the purpose of these Regulations;

12. "Beneficiary(ies)"

a) in relation to a Transmission Licensee, the Transmission System

Users;

b) in relation to the SLDC, the Generators including RE Generators with Long term Access/Medium term Access, the Distribution Licensees and Open Access consumers who utilise the Intra-State Transmission system for transmission of electricity and / or utilise4 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 the distribution system of a Licensee in the State for wheeling of electricity and/or avail the services of the SLDC relating to scheduling and real-time grid operations, State energy accounting, operation of pool account, etc;

13. "Books of Accounts" for the purpose of licensed or regulated business shall mean Regulatory Books of Accounts drawn up in accordance with BERC (Power Regulatory Accounting) Regulations, 2018 as amended from time to time;

14. "Bulk Power Transmission Agreement" means an executed Agreement that contains the terms and conditions under which a Transmission System User is entitled to access to an intra-State transmission system of a Transmission Licensee;

15. "Change in Law" means occurrence of any of the following events:

a) enactment, bringing into effect or promulgation of any new Indian

law; or

b) adoption, amendment, modification, repeal or re-enactment of any

existing Indian law; or

c) change in interpretation or application of any Indian law by a competent court, Tribunal or Indian Governmental Instrumentality which is the final authority under law for such interpretation or application; or

d) change by any competent statutory authority in any condition or covenant of any consent or clearances or approval or licence available or obtained for the project; or

e) coming into force or change in any bilateral or multilateral agreement/treaty between the Government of India and any other Sovereign Government having implication for the generating station or the transmission system regulated under these Regulations;

f) any change in taxes or duties, or introduction of any taxes or duties

levied by the Central or any State Government;

16. "Charges" means payments to be collected by the Transmission Licensee or SLDC for the services rendered by it;

17. "Commercial Operation Date" or "COD" in case of a transmission system shall mean the date declared by the Transmission Licensee from 00:00 hour of which an element of the transmission system is Put into regular service after successful trial operation for transmitting electricity and communication signal from sending end to receiving end. Date of commercial operation in relation to a communication system or element thereof shall mean the date declared by the transmission licensee from 00:00 hour of which a communication system or element is put into service after completion of site acceptance test including transfer of voice and data to respective control centre as certified by the respective State Load Dispatch Centre: Provided that where the transmission line or substation is dedicated for evacuation of power from a particular generating station, the Generating Company and Transmission Licensee shall endeavour to commission the generating station and the transmission system simultaneously as far as practicable and shall ensure the same through appropriate Implementation Agreement: Provided further that in case a transmission system or an element thereof is prevented from regular service for reasons not attributable to the Transmission Licensee or its supplier or its contractors but is on account of the delay in commissioning of the concerned generating station or in commissioning of the upstream or downstream transmission system, the Transmission Licensee shall approach the Commission through an appropriate application for approval of the date of commercial operation5 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 of such transmission system or an element thereof; 18. "Commission" means the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission; 19. "Conduct of Business Regulations" means the Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission (Conduct of Business) Regulations, 2005, and its amendments from time to time;

20. "Contracted Capacity" means the capacity in MW contracted by a long- term Transmission System User as part of its long-term power procurement plan through a power purchase agreement or arrangement, and shall be equivalent to the deemed Transmission Capacity Right of a Transmission System User as specified under the Regulations of the Commission governing Transmission Open Access;

21. "Control Period" means a multi-year period comprising of three Years from April 1, 2025 to March 31, 2028 and as may be extended by the Commission, for submission of forecast in accordance with these Regulations;

22. "Cut-off date" means 31st March of the year closing after two years of the year of commercial operation of the project, and in case the project is declared under commercial operation in the last quarter of a year, the cut- off date shall be 31st March of the year closing after three years of the year of commercial operation: Provided that the cut-off date may be extended by the Commission if it is proved on the basis of documentary evidence that the capitalisation could not be made within the cut-off date for reasons beyond the control of the project developer;

23. "De-capitalisation" means the reduction in Gross Fixed Assets corresponding to the removal of assets as approved by the Commission; 24. "Existing Project" means transmission project declared under commercial operation from a date prior to notified date of these tariff regulations by the Commission as per Regulation 1.2;

25. "Expenditure" means reasonable and prudently required expenditure incurred on the following:

a) salaries and wages of staff, welfare expenses excluding

management remuneration covered below;

b) Directors remuneration, fees, expenses including facilities; c) salaries and wages of corporate office / registered office; d) financing cost excluding penal interest / charges; e) interest charges on loan(s) borrowed for capitalized assets; f) interest on temporary accommodation to the extent of approved

unrealized arrears from the consumers;

g) interest on working capital; h) Return on equity; i) financing charges applicable to operational account; j) interest on security deposits (except the security deposits held in the form of Bank Guarantee) from transmission System Users; k) Impact of variation in foreign exchange rate in case of foreign

currency loan taken with due approval and is not capitalised;

l) Depreciation; m) Rents, rates and taxes, other than all taxes relating to income /

profits;

n) Legal charges; o) Auditor's expenses, Auditor's fees; auditor's expenses; Payment to Auditors in any other capacity or for any work which is necessary to be got done from them in connection with audit;

p) Consultancy charges for work which cannot be done in house or is uneconomical in doing in-house or is essential to be done from outside sources;

r) Other expenses necessary which are ancillary or incidental to the business of electricity except penalty etc levied under the Act or any other law in force;

26. "Extended Life" means the life of a transmission system or element thereof beyond the period of useful life, as may be determined by the Commission on case-to-case basis;

27. "Financial Year" means a period commencing on 1st April of a calendar year and ending on 31st March of the subsequent calendar year;

28. "Force Majeure Event" for the purpose of these regulations means the event or circumstance or combination of events or circumstances including those stated below which partly or fully prevents the transmission licensee to complete the project within the time specified in the Capital Investment Approval, and only if such events or circumstances are not within the control of the transmission licensee and could not have been avoided, inspite of the transmission licensee taking reasonable care or complying with prudent utility practices:

a) Act of God including lightning, drought, fire and explosion, earthquake, volcanic eruption, landslide, flood, cyclone, typhoon, tornado, geological surprises, or exceptionally adverse weather conditions which are in excess of the statistical measures for the period for which data is available; or

b) Any act of war, invasion, armed conflict or act of foreign enemy, blockade, embargo, revolution, riot, insurrection, terrorist or military action; or

c) Industry wide strikes and labour disturbances having a nationwide

impact in India and/or state wide impact in Bihar;

d) Any shutdown/ interruption of the grid which is directed by the SLDC in exercise of functions prescribed under section 32 of the Electricity Act, 2003;

29. "High Tension" (or "HT") means all voltages defined as "high" or "extra high" voltage under the applicable Rules and Regulations as specified by the Central Electricity Authority;

30. "Income" shall include all income from any sources but shall not be limited to the following:

a) Gross receipts from transmission of energy or SLDC fees & charges, as the case may be, excluding late payment surcharge, if any, based on the orders of the Commission;

b) Rental of meters, plant, equipment and other apparatus hired to the

consumers;

c) Income from services to consumers by way of repair or any sale or

other service other than capital receipts;

d) Interest on investments, bank balances including fixed and call

deposits and any other income in the form of interest;

e) Profit on sale of assets; f) Wheeling of energy; g) Non tariff income; h) Income from other business; i) Any receipt or refund from other sources against any expense or likely expense which has been earlier allowed as expense in the tariff;

j) All other general receipts arising from and ancillary or incidental to

the business of electricity supply;

k) Other general receipts in terms of Act / Regulations including use of

assets for other business whether actually recovered or not;

31. "Indian Governmental Instrumentality" means the Government of India, State Government and any Ministry or Department or Board or Agency or regulatory or quasi-judicial authority controlled by Government of India or the Government of the State where the Project is located;

32. "Intra-State Transmission System" (or "InSTS") means any system for conveyance of electricity by transmission lines within the area of the State of Bihar, and includes all transmission lines, sub-stations and associated equipment of Transmission Licensees in the State:

Provided that the definition of point of separation between a transmission system and distribution system and between a Generating Station and transmission system shall be guided by the Regulations notified by the Central Electricity Authority under clause (b) of Section 73 of the Act;

33. "Implementation Agreement" means the agreement, contract or memorandum of understanding, or any such covenant, entered into (i) between transmission licensee and generating station or (ii) between transmission licensee and developer of the associated transmission system for the execution of project in coordinated manner;

34. "License" means a License granted by the Commission under Section 14 of the Act;

35. "Licensed Business" means the functions and activities, which the Licensee is required to undertake in terms of the License granted by the Commission or as a deemed Licensee under the Act;

36. "Market operation function" means the functions of scheduling, despatch, data acquisition, energy accounting and deviation settlement, transmission loss calculation and apportionment, operation of pool account and congestion charge account, administering ancillary services, information dissemination and any other functions assigned to the SLDC by the Act or Regulations or Orders;

37. "Non-Tariff Income" means the income relating to the regulated business other than from Tariff, excluding any income from Other Business;

38. "Operation and Maintenance expenses" or "O&M expenses" means the expenditure incurred on operation and maintenance of the transmission system including part thereof, and includes the expenditure on man-power, repairs, maintenance spares, consumables, insurance and overheads;

39. "Original Project Cost" means the actual expenditure incurred by the transmission licensee, as per the original scope of the project up to the cut- off date as admitted by the Commission;

40. "Project" includes transmission system comprising of specified transmission lines, sub - stations and associated equipment;

41. "Rated Voltage" means the manufacturer's design voltage at which the transmission system is designed to operate or such lower voltage at which the line is charged, for the time being, in consultation with the long – term transmission customer(s);

42. "Scheduled Commercial Operation Date" or "SCOD" shall mean the date(s) of commercial operation of a transmission system or element thereof and associated communication system as indicated in the Investment Approval or as agreed in transmission service agreement as the case may be, whichever is earlier;

43. "State Government" means Government of Bihar.

44. "State Grid Code" means the Code specified by the Commission under clause (h) of sub-section (1) of section 86 of the Act;

45. "Transmission Capacity Rights" means the right of a Transmission System User to transfer power in MW, under normal circumstances, between such points of injection and drawal as may be set out in the Bulk Power Transmission Agreement;

46. "Transmission System User" for the purpose of these Regulations means the Distribution Licensees and long-term Open Access Users, but excludes partial Open Access Users;

47. "Tariff" means schedule of charges for generation, transmission, distribution and trading of electricity as well as various charges for providing open access of electricity, as determined by the commission from time to time;

48. "Transformer Failure" represents number of transformer failures of a particular capacity within the transmission system as a percentage of the total number of transformers in that capacity;

49. "Trial Run" or "Trial Operation" Trial operation in relation to a transmission system or an element thereof shall mean successful charging of the transmission system or an element thereof for 24 hours at continuous flow of power, and communication signal from sending end to receiving end and with requisite metering system, telemetry and protection system in service enclosing certificate to that effect from State Load Dispatch Centre;

50. "Transmission Licensee" means a person who has been granted licence for intra-state transmission of electricity and includes any person deemed to be a transmission licensee for intra–state transmission of electricity;

51. "Transmission Service Agreement" means an agreement, contract, memorandum of understanding or any such covenant, entered into between the transmission licensee and the long term transmission customer for the operational phase of the project;

52. "Transmission System" means a line with associated sub stations or a group of lines inter–connected together along with associated sub-stations and the term includes equipment associated with transmission lines and sub-stations;

53. "Useful life" in relation to Transmission System and communication system from the COD shall mean 25 years for sub-station and 35 years for transmission line.

Provided that the useful life for AC and DC substations and GIS for which Notice Inviting Tender is floated on or after 01.04.2022 shall be considered as 35 years from the date of COD

3.2 The words and expressions used and not defined in these Regulations, but defined in other Regulations or the Act, shall have the meanings assigned to them in the other Regulations or the Act respectively.

3.3 The words "Application" or "Petition" shall be interpreted synonymously.

PART-II GENERAL PRINCIPLES

4. Multi Year Tariff Framework

4.1 The Commission shall determine the tariff for Transmission business or charges of SLDC operations under a Multi-Year Tariff framework with effect from April 1st of each financial year subject to provisions under these Regulations.

4.2 The Multi-Year Tariff frameworks shall be based on the following elements, for calculation of Aggregate Revenue Requirement and expected revenue from tariff and charges for Transmission Business and Fees and Charges of SLDC:

i. Control Period, before commencement of which a forecast of the Aggregate Revenue Requirement and expected revenue from existing tariff in case of transmission licensee or Fees and Charges in case of SLDC, as the case may be, shall be submitted by the applicant and approved by the Commission; Provided further that the performance parameters whose trajectories have been specified in these Regulations shall form the basis of projection for the Aggregate Revenue Requirement for the entire Control Period;

ii. A detailed Business Plan based on the Operational Norms and trajectories of performance parameters specified in the MYT Regulations, for each year of the Control Period, shall be submitted by the applicant for the Commission's approval subject to provisions under these Regulations;

iii. Based on the Business Plan, the applicant shall submit a petition with the forecast of Aggregate Revenue Requirement and expected revenue from existing tariff and charges for each year of the Control Period, and the Commission shall approve the transmission tariff and Fees and Charges in case of SLDC for each year of the Control Period;

iv. The mechanism for pass-through of approved gains or losses in truing-up on account of uncontrollable factors as specified under Regulation 9 of these Regulations;

v. The mechanism for sharing of approved gains or losses in truing-up arising out of controllable factors as specified under Regulation 10 of these Regulations;

5. Business Plan

5.1 The Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, shall file a Business Plan for the Control Period i. e. FY 2025-26 to FY 2027-28, by way of a separate petition along with the tariff petition for the first year of the Control Period i.e. 2025-26 for approval of the commission. The petition for approval of Business Plan shall be filed in accordance with BERC (Conduct of Business) Regulations, 2005 as amended from time to time, accompanied by such fee payable, as specified in the BERC (Fees, Fines and Charges) Regulations, 2019 as amended from time to time.

5.2 Such Business Plan shall comprise but not be limited to infrastructure requirement commensurate with load growth forecast and demand projections, capital investment plan, financing plan and physical targets.

Provided that the Business Plan shall take into account schemes costing below the threshold limit to be notified separately that are to be developed by the State Transmission Utility on cost plus basis in accordance with the Tariff Policy notified by Govt. of India.

Provided also that the Commission may permit SLDC to create and maintain a separate development fund for such purposes and from such sources of income, as the Commission may consider appropriate, on a Petition filed by SLDC.

Provided further that in case the Commission issues guidelines and formats, from time to time, the same shall be adhered to by the Transmission Licensee.

5.3 The Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, shall make assessment of infrastructure requirement and prepare capital investment plan in accordance with BERC (Procedure for Filing Capital Investment and Capitalization Plan) Regulations, 2018, as amended from time to time that will spill into the year(s) under review and new projects that will commence and may be completed within or beyond the control period.

Provided that all the new intra-state transmission projects costing above a threshold limit to be notified separately, shall be developed through Tariff Based Competitive Bidding.

Provided also thatit is the duty of the Licensee to ensure optimization of investments to enhance efficiency, productivity and meet performance standards prescribed by the Commission.

5.4 The Commission shall approve the infrastructure requirement and preparation of capital investment plan in accordance with BERC (Procedure for Filing Capital Investment and Capitalization Plan) Regulations, 2018, as amended from time to time. The same would be considered for computation of ARR, wherein the amount of electricity transmitted by the Transmission System shall be projected considering the estimated growth plan of its Beneficiaries and any plans of new transmission system, based on network expansion plans within the State.

5.5 The Commission may also undertake a detailed review of the actual works compared with the works approved in the previous Tariff Order while approving the capital expenditure for the ensuing year.

5.6 The Transmission Licensee shall normally get prior approval of every capital investment. In case the capital expenditure is required for emergency work arisen due to unforeseen circumstances, the Licensee may take up the work upto Rs.20 Crore prior to receiving the approval from the Commission, provided the emergent nature of the scheme has been certified by its Board of Directors or by the Authority delegated by the Board of Directors.

5.7 The Licensee shall submit an application showing detailed justification along with supporting documents for emergent nature of expenses within 15 days of occurrence of cause for such emergent work, seeking post facto approval by the Commission.

5.8 Beneficiaries contribution towards cost of capital asset shall be treated as capital receipt and credited in current liabilities until transferred to a separate account on Commissioning of the assets.

5.9 An amount equivalent to the depreciation charge on such assets for the year shall be appropriated from this account as income to the statement of profit and loss over the useful life of the asset.

6. Specific trajectory for certain variables.—The Commission shall stipulate a trajectory while approving the Business Plan, for certain variables having regard to the reorganization, restructuring and development of the electricity industry in the State.

The variables under this regulation for which a trajectory may be stipulated shall include, but are not limited to, Capitalization Schedule (Timely completion of Project as per original award without cost overrun and Time overrun), Operation & Maintenance expense norms, transmission system availability, and transmission losses.

7. Annual Review of Performance and True-up

7.1 Where the Aggregate Revenue Requirement and expected revenue from tariff and charges of a Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, are covered under a Multi-Year Tariff framework, such Transmission Licensee or SLDC shall be subject to an annual review of performance and True-up during the Control Period in accordance with these Regulations.

8.1 The "uncontrollable factors" shall comprise but not limited to the following factors which are beyond the control of, and could not be mitigated by the applicant:

a) Force Majeure events, such as acts of God, war, fire and natural calamities. b) Change in law; c) Taxes and Duties; d) Land acquisition-except where the delay is attributable to the transmission licensee.

8.2 The "controllable factors" shall comprise but not limited to the following factors which are within the control of, and are attributable to the applicant:

a) Variations in Transmission System availability; b) Variations in capital expenditure and Capitalization on account of time and/or cost overruns/ inefficiencies in the implementation of a capital expenditure project not attributable to an approved change in scope of such project, change in statutory levies or force majeure events;

c) Variation in Interest and Finance Charges, Return on Equity, and Depreciation on account of variation in capitalisation as specified in clause (b) above;

d) Variations in transformation and transmission losses; e) Variation in performance parameters; f) Variations in Return on Equity (RoE), depreciation and working capital requirements. However, if the Commission is satisfied that the variation in the working capital requirement is attributable to any uncontrollable factors, the same may be considered as uncontrollable factor.

g) Variation in operation & maintenance expenses, except those attributable to directions of the Commission or to change in Government policy/law;

h) Failure to meet the standards specified in the Standards of Performance Regulations, except where exempted;

9. Mechanism for pass-through of gains or losses on account of uncontrollable factors 9.1 The approved aggregate gain or loss to the Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, on account of uncontrollable factors shall be a pass through, as an adjustment in the tariff of the Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, as specified in these Regulations and as may be determined in the Order of the Commission passed under these Regulations.

9.2 The Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, shall submit such details of the variations between actual expenses incurred and revenue earned and the figures approved by the Commission along with the detailed computations and supporting documents as may be required for verification by the Commission.

10. Mechanism for sharing of gains or losses on account of controllable factors

10.1 The approved aggregate gain or loss to the Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, on account of controllable factors shall be dealt separately for aggregate gain and aggregate loss in the following manner: a) Aggregate gain:

i. 50% of the amount of such gain shall be a pass through as an adjustment in the tariff of the Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, as specified in these Regulations and as may be determined in the Order of the Commission passed under these Regulations;

ii. The balance 50% of the amount of such gain shall be on account of Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, and such amount shall be utilized at the discretion of Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be;

i. 50% of the amount of such loss shall normally be a pass through as an adjustment in the tariff of the Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, as specified in these Regulations and as may be determined in the Order of the Commission passed under these Regulations, provided that the Commission is satisfied that such loss is not on account of deliberate action of the Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be;

ii. The balance 50% of the amount of such loss shall be on account of Licensee or SLDC and shall be absorbed by the Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be;

Explanation:- If the State Government is providing resource gap grant, aggregate loss shall be reduced by that amount for the purpose of computation of Aggregate Loss to be qualified for a pass through.

10.2 The Licensee and SLDC, as the case may be, shall submit such details of variation for sharing of approved aggregate gain or loss on account of controllable factors along with the detailed computations and supporting documents as may be required for verification by the Commission.

Explanation:—For the purpose of variation for sharing of approved aggregate gain or loss on account of norms-based expenditure, variation will be calculated as a difference between normative expenditure as re-calculated in truing up and actual expenses booked in the audited books of accounts.

10.3 In case, there are other regulations which specifies for incentive/disincentive, gains/losses will not be shared under this regulation.

10.4 In cases where the O&M norms are not approved by the Commission and the O&M expenses are allowed based on the Audited Books of Accounts, there shall be no sharing of losses and gains

PART-III PROCEDURE

11. Procedures relating to making of an application for approval of Business plan and for determination of Tariff

11.1 The application (alongwith soft copy) for approval of the Business Plan shall be made in accordance with the BERC (Conduct of Business) Regulations, 2005 and its amendments from time to time, and accompanied by such fee payable, as specified in the BERC (Fees, Fines and Charges) Regulations, 2019 as amended from time to time. Provided that the Commission may conduct a Technical Validation Session prior to admission of the Petition.

11.2 The Transmission Licensee in its Business Plan filings shall submit and propose the trajectory for the achievement of quality targets. The Commission shall specify the targets for each parameter. The Transmission Licensee shall submit its performance on each parameter in the form and manner specified by the Commission. The Business Plan shall be for the entire control period and shall inter-alia, contain: a) Capital Investment Plan; b) The appropriate capital structure and cost of financing (interest on debt) and return on equity, terms of the existing loan agreements, etc;

c) Operation and Maintenance (O&M) expenses: This shall include the costs estimated for the Base Year, the actual expenses incurred in the previous control period and the projected values for each year of the Control Period based on the proposed norms for O&M cost, including indexation and other appropriate mechanisms;

d) Depreciation: Based on the original cost of the fixed assets of the corresponding year, capitalisation schedules for each year of the Control Period and at the rate not exceeding the rate specified by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission;

e) Performance Targets: A set of targets proposed for controllable items such as availability of transmission system, transmission losses, transformer failure rate, and any other parameters for quality of supply. The targets shall be consistent with the Capital Investment Plan proposed by the Transmission Licensee;

f) Proposals for Non-Tariff Income with item-wise description and details; g) Proposals in respect of income from Other Business; h) Other Information: This shall include any other details considered appropriate by the Transmission Licensee for consideration during determination of tariff; and

11.3 An application (alongwith soft copy) for determination of tariff and charges shall be made by 15th November every year, for Truing up of expenses of previous years, for Annual Performance Review (APR) of the Aggregate Revenue Requirement (ARR) for the current year and determination of ARR and transmission tariff or SLDC charges for the ensuing years of the control period. The application should contain the data relating to each item of the ARR supported with the information/data in the formats Form no-SI to Form no-P12 appended to these Regulations, and accompanied by such fees as may be specified under the BERC (Fees, Fines and Charges) Regulations, 2019 as amended from time to time. All the information as required in the formats appended to these Regulations along with justification shall be provided in the main petition. Provided that the Commission may require submission of additional information/data required for determination of ARR and tariff.

11.4 The filings for Transmission Tariff shall inter-alia contain but are not limited to the following: a) The Transmission System or network usage forecast for each year of the Control Period, consistent with the Business Plan;

b) Proposals for transmission tariff design for each year of the Control Period, including the losses to be charged and the procedure thereof;

c) Proposal for reactive energy charges; d) Expected Revenue from the Licensed Business, Non-Tariff Income and income from Other Business and other matters considered appropriate by the Transmission Licensee;

11.5 The petition for determination of tariff or SLDC charges shall be accompanied by information for the previous year, current year (RE) and the ensuing years of the entire control period.

Provided that the application shall be accompanied where relevant, by a detailed tariff revision proposal and how such revision would meet the gap, if any, in Aggregate Revenue Requirement for each year of the Control Period.

Provided further that the information for the previous year shall be based on audited accounts and in case audited accounts for previous year are not available, audited accounts for the immediately preceding year should be filed along with provisional books of annual (regulatory) accounts for the previous year adopted by the Board of Directors of the licensee company or SLDC, as the case may be.

11.6 The Transmission Licensee or SLDC as the case may be shall along with the aforesaid petition submit a statement on the status of compliance of directives, if any, issued by the Commission in its last tariff order.

11.7 The Commission may seek clarification and additional information on inadequacies in the application, if any, within 14 days or as may be14 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 practicable, of filing of the application for approval of the Business Plan and application for determination of tariff, as the case may be.

11.8 The Transmission Licensee shall respond within the next 10 days to the Commission with all clarification and information as required.

11.9 Upon receipt of a complete application accompanied by all requisite information, particulars and documents in compliance with all the requirements specified in these Regulations, the application for approval of the Business Plan and application for determination of tariff, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be received and the Commission shall admit the application for approval of the Business Plan and application for determination of tariff, as the case may be, within seven days or as may be required, of submission of response to the clarifications, if any, by the Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be.

11.10 The Commission or the Secretary or the designated Officer shall intimate to the applicant with the abridged form of application for publication of public notice in the daily newspapers. In case of non-submission or delay in submission of additional information, the Commission may take suo-motu decision to formulate this abridged form of application as it deem appropriate.

11.11 The applicant shall, within three (3) days of the intimation given to him in accordance with Regulation 11.10, publish a notice inviting suggestions and objections from the public, in at least two (2) English and two (2) Hindi language daily newspapers widely circulated in the area to which the application pertains, outlining the proposed Business Plan or the proposed ARR and tariff, as the case may be, and such other matters as may be stipulated by the Commission.

Provided that the applicant shall make available a hard copy of the complete application, to any interested party, at such locations and at such rates as may be stipulated by the Commission.

Provided further that the applicant shall also put up on its internet website, in downloadable spreadsheet format showing detailed computations, the application made to the Commission along with all regulatory filings, information, particulars and documents in the manner so stipulated by the Commission.

Provided further that the web-link to the information mentioned in the second proviso above shall be easily accessible, archived for downloading and shall be prominently displayed on the applicant's internet website. Provided also that the applicant may not provide or put up any such information, particulars or documents, which are confidential in nature, with the prior approval of the Commission.

Explanation – for the purpose of this Regulation, the term "downloadable spreadsheet format" shall mean one (or multiple, linked) spreadsheet software files containing all assumptions, formulae, calculations, software macros and outputs forming the basis of the application.

11.12 The procedural aspects pertaining to the Petition contained in this Regulation shall apply only to such an extent as may be required by the Commission having regard to the circumstances of an individual case, to:- a) a petition filed by a Transmission Licensee under Section 36 of the Act; b) a petition filed by the SLDC under section 32 of the Act

11.13 Notwithstanding anything contained in these Regulations, in case of delay/ non-submission of the application for approval of the Business Plan and application for determination of tariff, as the case may be, the Commission may initiate suo-motu proceedings mandating the filing of the said applications. Provided that in the event of the licensee not filing the application despite the aforesaid proceeding, the Commission may on its own, decide the tariff based on previous year's tariff details and after incorporating suitable15 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 adjustments. However, before issuing tariff order under such circumstances, comments/ suggestions/ objections from the public and stakeholders including the licensee will be invited and same will be considered for the tariff order. Provided further that the Commission may also pass directions under Section 129 and/or Section 142 of the Act, if required.

12. Order approving the Business Plan and Tariff Order

12.1 An Order approving with such modifications or such conditions as may be specified in that order or rejecting the Business Plan shall, as far as practicable, be issued before the filing of tariff petition separately or with the tariff order as the Commission may deem fit and practicable.

12.2 The Commission shall, within one hundred and twenty (120) days from receipt of a complete application for determination of ARR and tariff and after considering all suggestions and objections received from the public and after hearing all stakeholders and general public:

a) issue a Tariff Order accepting the application with such modifications

or such conditions as may be specified in that Order;

b) reject the application for reasons to be recorded in writing, if such application is not in accordance with the provisions of the Act and the Rules and Regulations made there under or the provisions of any other law for the time being in force;

12.3 An applicant shall be given a reasonable opportunity of being heard before rejecting its application referred to under regulation 12.1 and 12.2 above. 12.4 The applicant shall publish the tariff approved by the Commission within seven days of issue of tariff order in at least two (2) English and two (2) Hindi daily newspapers having wide circulation in the area of supply of the applicant and shall put up the approved tariff or charges on its internet website.

12.5 The tariff so published shall be in force from the date specified in the said Order and shall, unless amended or revised, continue to be in force for such period as may be stipulated therein.

13. True-Up and Annual Performance Review.—The Commission shall True-Up expenses of the previous year either as part of the Tariff order or issue Order/s for True-Up of expenses preceding the Tariff order of ensuing year as:

a) an order for True-Up of expenses shall be issued on annual basis; b) an order for True-Up of expenses shall be on the basis of expense estimates made in the beginning of the year under consideration, actual expenses booked in the audited books of accounts of the Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, for the year, and after prudence check of data by the Commission;

c) where audited books of account are not available at the time of true-up, provisional books of annual (regulatory) accounts duly approved by the Board of Directors of the applicant company shall be used for the provisional True-up process;

d) the commission shall undertake review of estimates of expenses for the current year as a part of the tariff order on the basis of the actual expenses incurred during the period April – September of the current year and corresponding figures in the order for Annual Revenue Requirement (ARR) of the current year approved by the Commission;

e) estimates of expenses for the ensuing year shall be on the basis of corresponding figures in the order for True-up of expenses of the previous year and Annual Performance Review or Tariff Order of the current year, as the Commission may consider reasonable and deem fit;

f) Notwithstanding anything contained in regulation 4 of these Regulations, the Revenue gap/surplus arising out of Truing up shall be considered by the Commission while determining the ARR of ensuing year(s). While approving adjustments towards revenue/expenses in future years, arising out of Truing up exercises, the Commission may allow the carrying costs as determined by the16 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Commission of such expenses/revenues. However, the revised estimated gap/surplus as a result of APR may or may not be passed in the ARR of ensuing year.

14. Adherence to Tariff Order

14.1 If a Transmission Licensee recovers a price or charge exceeding the tariff determined in accordance with these Regulations, the excess amount shall be payable to the person who has paid such price or charge, along with interest equivalent to "base rate" provided in Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and Related Matters) Rules, 2022, as amended from time to time without prejudice to any other liability that may be incurred by such Transmission Licensee.

14.2 The Transmission Licensee shall submit periodic returns as may be required by the Commission, containing operational and cost data to enable the Commission to monitor the implementation of its Order.

PART-IV NORMS OF OPERATION

15. Charges for Auxiliary Energy Consumption in the Sub–Station.—The charges for auxiliary energy consumption in the Sub Stations for the purpose of air-conditioning, lighting, technical consumption etc shall be borne by the transmission licensee as part of normative operation and maintenance expenses.

Provided that for consumption in the Sub Stations for the purpose of air-conditioning, lighting, technical consumption etc., transmission licensee shall get an electric connection from the concerned distribution licensee and pay charges to the distribution licensee as per the applicable retail tariff.

16. Normative Annual Transmission System Availability Factor (NATAF):

16.1 The Normative Annual Transmission System Availability Factor for recovery of full transmission charges shall be as under:

Provided that recovery of full annual transmission charges below the target availability shall be on a pro-rata basis. At zero availability, no transmission charges shall be payable 16.2 The actual availability shall be calculated in accordance with the procedure provided in Appendix-II to these Regulations and shall be certified by the State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC) as per the format specified in Appendix I of these Regulations.

17. Quality of Supply

17.1 The Commission shall monitor the following Quality of Supply parameters during the Control Period: a) Transmission System Availability; b) Transformer Failure;

18. Safety Standards

18.1 The Transmission Licensee shall develop a Safety Manual and follow procedures to maintain at least minimum safety standards during construction, operation, etc. in line with the provisions of Section 53 of the Act.

19 Additional Capitalisation:

19.1 Following capital expenditure which is within the original scope of work and actually incurred after the date of commercial operation and upto the cut-off date may be admitted by the Commission, subject to prudence check:

i. deferred liabilities; ii. works deferred for execution; iii. Procurement of initial spares which shall be capitalised as a percentage of17 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 the Plant and Machinery cost upto cut-off date, subject to following ceiling norms:

a. Transmission line - 1.00% b. Transmission Sub-station (Green Field) - 4.00% c. Transmission Sub-station (Brown Field) - 6.00% d. Series Compensation devices and HVDC Station - 4.00% e. Gas Insulated Sub-station (GIS) - 5.00% f. Communication system- 3.50% g. Static Synchronous Compensator- 6.00%

Provided that once the project is commissioned, the cost of initial spares shall be restricted on the basis of plant and machinery cost corresponding to the project at the time of truing up.

iv. liabilities in connection with implementation of award of arbitration or

compliance of the order or decree of a court; and

v. on account of change in law;

Note:

a. original scope of work along with estimates of expenditure shall be

submitted to the Commission along with application for tariff.

b. a list of the deferred liabilities and works deferred for execution shall also be submitted along with the application for determination of tariff after the date of commercial operation of the transmission system.

19.2 Subject to clause (1) of this regulation, the capital expenditure of the following nature actually incurred after the cut-off date may be admitted by the Commission, subject to prudent check. i. deferred liabilities relating to work / services within the original scope of work

ii. liabilities in connection with implementation of award of arbitration or compliance of an order or decree of a court

iii. on account of a change in law, and iv. any additional works / services which have become necessary for efficient and successful operation of the project, but not included in the original project cost.

19.3 Any expenditure incurred on minor items / assets bought after the cut off date like tools and tackles, personal computers, furniture, air-conditioners, voltage stabilizers, refrigerators, coolers, fans, TV, washing machine, heat convectors, mattresses, carpets etc. shall not be considered for additional capitalisation for determination of tariff with effect from notified date of the tariff regulations by the Commission as per Regulation 1.2. Note: The list of items are illustrative but not exhaustive.

19.4 Impact of additional capitalisation on tariff, may be considered during truing up of each financial year of the control period.

Note:

i. Any expenditure admitted on account of committed liabilities within the original scope of work and the expenditure deferred on techno-economic grounds but falling within the original scope of work shall be serviced in the normative debt-equity ratio specified in these Regulations.

ii. Any expenditure on replacement of old asset shall be considered after writing off the entire value of the original asset from the original capital cost.

iii. Any expenditure admitted by the Commission for determination of tariff on account of new works not in the original scope of work shall be serviced on normative debt – equity ratio specified in these Regulations.

iv. Any expenditure admitted by the Commission for determination of tariff on renovation and modernisation or life extension shall be serviced on normative debt –equity ratio specified in these Regulations after writing off the entire value of the replaced asset from the original capital cost.

PART-V FINANCIAL PRINCIPLES

20 ARR for Transmission Business

20.1 Financial Prudence.—The Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, shall manage its finances in an optimum and prudent manner.

Provided that the Commission may disallow a part of the Aggregate Revenue Requirement, as an efficiency measure, if it finds the exercise of such prudence to have been deficient.

Provided also that, in case its payment obligations to other entities are not regularly met, the Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, shall provide justification for such shortfall with reference to its cash flow statement.

20.2 The financial prudence with respect to capital expenditure shall be assessed in terms of the following parameters: —

a) mechanism put in place for monitoring the physical progress of projects

with respect to their original schedule;

b) optimum drawal of loans in accordance with the physical progress of the

capital expenditure schemes, and efficient utilisation of such loans;

c) in case the actual capital expenditure or capitalisation exceeds 10% of that approved by the Commission, the Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, shall submit detailed justification for such excess along with its Petition for True-up ;

d) in case any scheme has not been commenced during the year despite the Commission's approval, detailed justification shall be submitted along with the Petition for True-up.

20.3 The Aggregate Revenue Requirement for the Transmission Licensee or SLDC business, as the case may be, for each year of the Control Period shall contain but not limited to the following items:

a) Operation and Maintenance expenses; b) Return on Equity; c) Depreciation; d) Interest and finance charges on loan capital; e) Interest on working capital; f) Contingency Reserve; g) Bad debts, if any h) Non-Tariff Income; i) Income from Other Business; j) Revenue from short-term transmission charges.

21. Operation and Maintenance Expenses

a) The Commission shall stipulate a separate trajectory of norms for each of the components of O&M expenses viz., Employee cost, Repair and Maintenance (R&M) expense and Administrative and General (A&G) expense.

Provided that such norms may be specified for a specific Transmission Licensee or a class of Transmission Licensees.

b) Norms shall be defined in terms of number of personnel per ckt/km (for different categories of transmission lines for e.g. 400 KV, 220 KV, 132 KV etc. Lines) and number of personal per bay (for different categories of bay for e.g. 400 KV, 220 KV, 132 KV etc. Bays) along with annual expenses per personnel for Employee expenses; combination of A&G expense per personnel and A&G expense per substation for A&G expenses and R&M expense as percentage of gross fixed assets for estimation of R&M expenses.

c) One-time expenses such as expense due to change in accounting policy and arrears paid due to pay commission recommendation shall be excluded from the norms in the trajectory.

d) The unforeseen expenses beyond the control of the Transmission Licensee such as pay revision, shall be excluded from the norms in the trajectory.

e) The One-time expenses and the expenses beyond the control of the Transmission Licensee shall be allowed by the Commission over and above normative Operation & Maintenance Expenses subject to prudence check.

f) The norms in the trajectory shall be specified over the control period with due consideration to improvement in productivity of the Licensee or SLDC as the case may be.

g) The norms shall be determined at constant prices of base year and escalation on account of inflation shall be over and above the baseline.

Provided that for the purpose of escalation based on Wholesale Price Index(WPIn) and Consumer Price Index(CPIn), WPIn is to be computed based on the average yearly inflation derived based on the monthly Wholesale Price Index of the respective past three financial years (including the year of Truing-up) as per the Office of Economic Advisor Ministry of Commerce & Industry Government of India and CPIn is to be computed based on the average yearly inflation derived based on the monthly Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (all-India) of the respective past three financial years (including the year of Truing-up) as per the Labour Bureau Government of India, at the time of filing of Petition.

Provided that in case the average yearly inflation derived based on the monthly CPI and WPI indices is negative for a particular year, the same will be excluded from the computation of yearly inflation.

h) The Transmission Licensee specific trajectory of norms shall be identified by the Commission on the basis of absolute and relative analysis.

i) In absolute analysis, Transmission Licensee's audited accounts of operations for last three years, expenses claimed for control period, historically approved cost, and prudence check shall be used by the Commission to estimate values of norms.

j) In relative analysis, performance parameters of other Transmission Licensees within the same state or in other states, shall be considered by the Commission to estimate norms.

Provided that other Transmission Licensees so chosen will have similar profile as that of the Transmission Licensee under consideration in terms of consumer mix, type of license area (city, state, etc.) type of substation, transmission networks, etc.

Suitable average of outcomes of absolute and relative analysis shall be taken by the Commission to fix the norms over the control period for the Transmission Licensee.

21.1 Employee Cost.—Employee cost shall be computed as per the approved norm escalated by consumer price index (CPI), adjusted by provisions for expenses beyond the control of the Transmission Licensee and one-off expected expenses, such as recovery/adjustment of terminal benefits, implications of pay commission, arrears and Interim Relief, governed by the following formula: EMPn = (EMPb * CPI inflation) + Provision Where: EMPn : Employee expense for the year n EMPb : Employee expense as per the norm CPI inflation : is the average increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for immediately preceding three years Provision : Provision for expenses beyond control of the Transmission Licensee and/or SLDC and expected one-off expenses as specified above.

Provided that till the norms are specified by the Commission the employee cost shall be determined on the basis of actual historical cost.

21.2 Repairs and Maintenance (R&M) Expense.—Repairs and Maintenance expense shall be calculated as percentage (as per the norm determined) of Opening Gross Fixed Assets excluding land cost for the year governed by following formula: R&Mn = Kb * GFAn Where: R&Mn : Repairs & Maintenance expense for nth year GFAn : Opening Gross Fixed Assets for nth year Kb : Percentage point as per the norm

21.3 Administrative and General (A&G) Expense.—A&G expense shall be computed as per the norm escalated by wholesale price index (WPI) and Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the ratio 60:40 and adjusted by provisions for confirmed initiatives (IT etc. initiatives as proposed by the Transmission Licensee and/or SLDC and validated by the Commission) or other expected one-off expenses, and shall be governed by following formula: A&Gn = (A&Gb * WPI inflation) + Provision Where: A&Gn: A&G expense for the year n A&Gb: A&G expense as per the norm WPI inflation: is the average increase in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for immediately preceding three years. Provision: Cost for initiatives or other one-off expenses as proposed by the Transmission Licensee and/or SLDC and validated by the Commission. Provided that till the norms of A&G expenses is specified by the Commission, the actual historical cost will be considered for determination of A&G expenses.

22. Return on Equity

a) Return on equity shall be computed on 30% of the capital base or actual equity, whichever is lower. Provided that assets funded by beneficiary contribution, capital subsidies/ grants and corresponding depreciation shall not form part of the capital base. Actual equity invested in the Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, as per book value shall be considered as perpetual and shall be used for computation in this Regulation. Provided further that the premium, if any, raised by the Licensee while issuing share capital and investment of internal resources created out of its free reserves, for the funding of the Scheme, shall be reckoned as paid up capital for the purpose of computing return on equity, provided such premium amount and internal resources are actually utilized for meeting the capital expenditure of the transmission system, and are within the ceiling of 30% of capital cost approved by the Commission.

b) The return on the equity invested shall be allowed from the date of start of commercial operation and after put to use.

c) Rate of return on equity shall be not more than 14.0% for all the projects.

Provided that, the Capital base attributable to assets Commissioned prior to commencement of control period covered under this regulation shall fetch ROE as per the rate applicable during the period in which the assets got Commissioned.

23. Depreciation

i. Depreciation shall be calculated for each year of the control period on the original cost of the fixed assets of the corresponding year. No advance shall be granted against depreciation.

ii. Depreciation shall not be allowed on assets funded by capital subsidies, beneficiary contributions or grants.

iii. Depreciation shall be calculated annually on the basis of assets capitalised and put to use based on the straight-line method over the useful life of the asset and21 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 at the rate not exceeding the rate specified by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission from time to time.

The residual value of assets shall be considered as 10% and depreciation shall be allowed to a maximum of 90% of the original cost of the asset. The Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, shall submit separate detail of fully depreciated asset along with year of commissioning and year of attaining ninety percent depreciation with the tariff petition. Provided that freehold land shall not be treated as a depreciable asset and its cost shall be excluded while computing 90% of the original cost of the asset.

Provided also that the cost of lease hold land shall be amortised evenly within the leased period.

iv. The original capital cost of the asset shall include Additional Capitalisation on account of Foreign Exchange Rate Variation as allowed by the appropriate Government / Bihar Electricity Regulatory Commission.

v. Depreciation shall be chargeable from the first year of operation of the asset.

For part of the year, depreciation shall be charged on pro-rata basis.

vi. A provision of replacement of assets shall be made in the capital investment plan.

vii. The licensee(s)/ SLDC shall submit certified copy of the Asset Register with the list of fully depreciated Transmission lines, substations, transformers, etc. along with the details of disposed off assets and amount received therefore with the tariff petition.

24. Interest and finance charges on loan capital

a) The Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, shall provide detailed loan-wise, project-wise and utilization-wise details of all the loans.

b) If the equity actually deployed is more than 30 % of the capital cost, equity in excess of 30 % shall be treated as normative loan. Provided that where equity actually deployed is less than 30% of the capital cost, the actual loan shall be considered for determination of interest on loan:

c) Actual loan or normative loan, if any, shall be referred as gross normative loan in this Regulation.

d) The normative loan outstanding as of 1st April of control period shall be computed by deducting the cumulative repayment as approved by the Commission up to 31st March of current period (a year before control period) from the gross normative loan.

e) The repayment for the control period shall be deemed to be equal to the depreciation allowed for the year.

f) Notwithstanding any moratorium period availed by the Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, the repayment of the loan shall be considered from the first year of the control period as per annual depreciation allowed.

g) The rate of interest shall be the weighted average rate of interest calculated on the basis of actual loan portfolio at the beginning of each year of the control period, in accordance with terms and conditions of relevant loan agreements, or bonds or non-convertible debentures. Provided that if no actual loan is outstanding but normative loan is still outstanding, the last available weighted average rate of interest shall be applicable. Provided also that if no actual loan is outstanding but normative loan is still outstanding and the last available weighted average rate of interest is also not available, rate of interest equal to the State Bank (one-year tenor) Marginal Cost of Funds-based Lending Rate ('MCLR') shall be applicable. Provided further that the interest on loan shall be calculated on the normative average loan of the year by applying the weighted average rate of interest.

Provided also that exception shall be made for the existing loans which may have different terms as per the agreements already executed, if the Commission is satisfied that the loan has been contracted for and applied to identifiable and approved projects.

h) The Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, shall make every effort to refinance the loan as long as it results in net benefit to the beneficiaries. Provided that the cost associated with such refinancing shall be eligible to be passed through in tariffs and the benefit on account of refinancing of loan and interest on loan shall be shared in the ratio of 50:50 between the Transmission Licensee or SLDC and the beneficiaries. Provided also that the Transmission Licensee and/or SLDC shall submit the calculation of such benefit to the Commission for its approval. i) The Transmission Licensee and/or SLDC shall enable tracking of the loans converted into grants under schemes like BRGF, PSDF, APDRP, R-APDRP, RGGVY, DDUGVY etc. or any other loan from the Central or State Government by providing information and data regularly to the Commission, for enabling the Commission to recover from Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, the amount of interest on loans which have been passed on to the beneficiaries in the earlier years and have been converted into grant subsequently so that the recovered amount is passed on to the beneficiaries.

j) Addition to loan during the year for interest purpose will be restricted to the quantum of assets capitalized and put to use.

k) The excess interest during construction on account of time and/or cost overrun as compared to the approved completion schedule and capital cost or on account of excess drawal of the debt funds disproportionate to the actual requirement based on Scheme completion status, shall be allowed or disallowed partly or fully on a case-to-case basis, after prudence check by the Commission. The transmission licensee and/or SLDC shall endeavour to adhere to the time schedule for various transmission system in accordance with Annexure-A appended for these regulations or original schedule period as the case may be, whichever is lower. Provided that where the excess interest during construction is on account of delay attributable to an agency or contractor or supplier engaged by the Transmission Licensee and/or SLDC, any liquidated damages recovered from such agency or contractor or supplier shall be taken into account for computation of capital cost. Provided also that the extent of liquidated damages to be considered shall depend on the amount of excess interest during construction that has been allowed by the Commission. The above interest computation shall exclude interest on loan amount, normative or otherwise, to the extent of capital cost funded by Consumer Contribution, Deposit Works, Grants or Capital Subsidy.

25. Interest during Construction (IDC), Incidental Expenditure during Construction (IEDC):

a. Interest during Construction (IDC)

i. Interest during construction shall be computed corresponding to the loan from the date of infusion of debt fund, and after taking into account the prudent phasing of funds upto Scheduled Date of Commercial operation (SCOD).

ii. In case of additional costs on account of IDC due to delay (including delay in land acquisition attributed to transmission licensee) in achieving the SCOD, the SLDC or the transmission licensee as the case may be, shall be required to furnish detailed justifications with supporting documents for such delay including prudent phasing of funds.

Provided that if the delay is not attributable to the SLDC or the transmission licensee as the case may be, and is due to uncontrollable factors as specified in Regulation 8 of these regulations, IDC may be allowed after due prudence check.

Provided also that only IDC on actual loan may be allowed beyond the SCOD to the extent, the delay is found beyond the control of SLDC or the transmission licensee, as the case may be, after due prudence and taking into account prudent phasing of funds.

a) Incidental Expenditure during Construction (IEDC)

i. Incidental expenditure during construction shall be computed from the zero date and after taking into account pre-operative expenses up to Scheduled Date of Commercial operation (SCOD).

Provided that any revenue earned during construction period up to SCOD on account of interest on deposits or advances, or any other receipts may be taken into account for reduction in incidental expenditure during construction.

ii. In case of additional costs on account of IEDC due to delay (including delay in land acquisition attributed to transmission licensee) in achieving the SCOD, the transmission licensee or SLDC as the case may be, shall be required to furnish detailed justification with supporting documents for such delay including the details of incidental expenditure during the period of delay and liquidated damages recovered or recoverable corresponding to the delay.

Provided that if the delay is not attributable to the transmission licensee or SLDC as the case may be, and is due to uncontrollable factors as specified in Regulation 8, IEDC may be allowed after due prudence check.

Provided also that where the delay is attributable to an agency or contactor or supplier engaged by the transmission licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, the liquidated damages recovered from such agency or contractor supplier shall be taken into account for computation of capital cost.

iii. In case the time over-run beyond Schedule date of commercial operation (SCOD) is not admissible after due prudence (including delay in land acquisition attributable to transmission licensee), the increase of capital cost on account of cost variation corresponding to the period of time over- run may be excluded from capitalization irrespective of price variation provisions in the contracts with supplier or contractor of the transmission licensee or SLDC.

26. Interest on working capital

a. The Transmission Licensee shall be allowed interest on the estimated level of working capital for the financial year, computed as follows:

i. Receivables equivalent to 45 days of annual transmission charges calculated on target availability level.

ii. O&M Expenses of one (01) month. iii. Maintenance spares @ 40% of R&M expenses for one month.

Provided that for the purpose of Truing-up for any year, the working capital requirement shall be re-computed on the basis of the values of revised normative Operation & Maintenance expenses and actual Revenue from Transmission Charges as reflected in the Audited Accounts, and other components of working capital approved by the Commission in the Truing-up before sharing of gains and losses.

Less:

i. Return on equity and contribution to contingency reserves equivalent to 45 days.

ii. Amount of security deposits from Transmission System users, if any, held during the year except the security deposits held in the form of Bank Guarantee from Transmission System Users.

b. Interest on working capital shall be on normative basis, notwithstanding that the transmission licensee and/or SLDC has not taken a loan for working capital from any outside agency and rate of interest shall be equal to the State Bank (one-year tenor) Marginal Cost of Funds-based Lending Rate ('MCLR') as of the date on which petition for determination of tariff is filed plus 100 basis points. The rate of interest for the purpose of Truing-up shall be the weighted average MCLR of the concern Financial Year plus 100 basis points.

c. Interest shall be allowed on the amount held as security deposit (except the security deposit held in the form of Bank Guarantee) from Transmission System Users at the Bank Rate (RBI Base Rate) as at the date on which the application for determination of tariff is filed. The interest allowed shall be subject to true up at weighted average Bank Rate of the concern Financial Year.

d. If the State Government is providing resource gap grant and/or subsidy, the working capital shall be reduced by 45 days equivalent of that amount.

27. Tax on Return on Equity

1. The base rate of return on equity as allowed by the Commission under Regulation 22 shall be grossed up with the effective tax rate of the respective financial year. For this purpose, the effective tax rate shall be considered on the basis of actual tax paid in the respect of the financial year in line with the provisions of the relevant Finance Acts by the concerned transmission licensee or SLDC, as the case may be. The actual tax on income from other business including deferred tax liability (i.e. income on business other than business of transmission or SLDC, as the case may be) shall not be considered for the calculation of effective tax rate.

2. Rate of return on equity shall be rounded off to two decimal places and shall be computed as per the formula given below: Rate of pre-tax return on equity = Base rate / (1-t) Where "t" is the effective tax rate in accordance with Clause (1) of this regulation and shall be calculated at the beginning of every financial year based on the estimated profit and tax to be paid estimated in line with the provisions of the relevant Finance Act applicable for that financial year to the company on pro-rata basis by excluding the income of non-SLDC or non-transmission business, as the case may be, and the corresponding tax thereon. In case of licensee/SLDC paying Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), "t" shall be considered as MAT rate including surcharge and cess, if any.

llustration:-

(i) In case of the licensee paying Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) @ 20.96% including surcharge and cess:

Rate of return on equity = 14/(1-0.2096) = 17.71% (ii) In case of licensee paying normal corporate tax including surcharge and cess:

a) Estimated Gross Income from the licensee business for a financial

year is Rs 1000 crore.

b) Estimated Advance Tax for the year on above is Rs 240 crore. c) Effective Tax Rate for the year = Rs 240 Crore/Rs 1000 Crore = 24% d) Rate of return on equity = 14/ (1-0.24) = 18.42%

3. The Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, shall true up the grossed-up rate of return on equity at the end of every financial year based on actual tax paid together with any additional tax demand including interest thereon, duly adjusted for any refund of tax including interest received from the income tax authorities pertaining to the control period on actual gross income of any financial year. However, penalty, if any, arising on account of delay in deposit or short deposit of tax amount shall not be claimed by the Licensee or SLDC as the case may be. Any under-recovery or over-recovery of grossed up rate on return on equity after25 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 truing up, shall be recovered or refunded to beneficiaries on year-to-year basis. 28. Contribution to Contingency Reserve

a. If the Transmission Licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, has made an appropriation to the Contingency Reserve, a sum not more than 0.5 per cent of the original cost of fixed assets at the beginning of the year, shall be allowed annually towards such appropriation in the calculation of ARR.

Provided that where the amount of such Contingency Reserves exceeds five (5) per cent of the original cost of fixed assets, no further contribution shall be allowed. Such contribution shall be invested in securities authorised under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 within a period of six months of the close of the Year. Provided that interest accrued on contingency reserve shall be reduced from the ARR.

b. The Contingency Reserve shall not be drawn upon during the term of the license except to meet such charges as may be approved by the Commission, such as following:

i. Expenses or loss of profits arising out of accidents, strikes or

circumstances which the management could not have prevented;

ii. Expenses on replacement or removal of plant or works other than

expenses required for normal maintenance or renewal;

iii. Compensation payable under any law for the time being in force and for

which no other provision is made.

Provided that such drawal from contingency reserve shall be computed after making due adjustment for any other compensation that may have been received by the Licensee as part of an insurance cover.

c. No diminution in the value of contingency reserve as mentioned above shall be allowed to be adjusted as a part of tariff.

29. Bad and Doubtful Debts.—Bad and Doubtful Debts shall be allowed as a legitimate business expense provided that the transmission licensee and/or SLDC actually identifies and writes off bad debts as per the transparent policy approved by the Commission. In case there is any recovery of bad debts already written off, the recovered bad debt will be treated as other income as an uncontrollable item.

30. Non-Tariff Income

i. All incomes being incidental to electricity business and derived by the Licensee from sources, including but not limited to profit derived from disposal of assets, rents, late payment surcharge, income from investments other than contingency reserves, miscellaneous receipts from the Beneficiaries, shall constitute Non- Tariff Income of the Licensee.

Provided that the interest earned from investments made out of Return on Equity corresponding to the regulated Business shall not be included in Non- Tariff Income.

ii. The amount received by the Licensee on account of Non-Tariff Income shall be deducted from the Aggregate Revenue Requirement in calculating the net revenue requirement of such Licensee.

31. Income from Other Business.—Where the Transmission Licensee is engaged in any other business under Section 41, the income from such business will be deducted from the Aggregate Revenue Requirement in calculating the revenue requirement of the Licensee in the manner and in proportion as may be specified by the Commission in BERC (Treatment of Income of Other Businesses of Transmission Licensees and Distribution Licensees) Regulations, 2013 with amendments.

Provided that the Licensee shall follow a reasonable basis for allocation of all joint and common costs between the Transmission Business and the Other Business and shall submit the Allocation Statement as approved by the Board of Directors to the Commission along with the application for determination of tariff; Provided also that where the sum total of the direct and indirect costs of such Other Business exceeds the revenues from such Other Business or for any other reason, no amount shall be allowed to be added to the Aggregate Revenue Requirement26 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 of the Transmission Licensee on account of such Other Business. 32. Annual Transmission Charges (ATC)

32.1 The annual Transmission charges of the transmission system shall be computed on annual basis, in accordance with norms contained in these regulations, aggregated as appropriate, and recovered on monthly basis as transmission charge from the users.

32.2 The Transmission charge (inclusive of disincentive, if any) for AC system payable for a calendar month shall be: ARR X (NDM/NDY) x (TAFM/NATAF) Where; NATAF= 98% NDM = Number of days in the month NDY = Number of days in the year TAFM = Transmission System availability factor for the month, in percent computed in accordance with Appendix-II.

33. Sharing of charges for Intra-State Transmission Network

33.1 The Aggregate Revenue Requirement of the Transmission Licensee, as approved by the Commission, shall be shared by all long-term users and medium-term users of the transmission system on monthly basis in the ratio of their respective contracted transmission capacities to the total contracted transmission capacity, in accordance with the following formula: TCn= (Annual Transmission ARR net of disincentive, if any) x (NDM/NDY) x CCn/SCC Where, TCn = transmission charges for the month payable by the nth long-term user or medium-term user of the transmission system; Transmission ARR = Aggregate Revenue Requirement of the Transmission Licensee, determined in accordance with Regulation 32 of these Regulations; CCn = capacity contracted in MW by the nth long-term user or medium-term user of the transmission system during the month; SCC = sum of capacities contracted in MW by all long-term users and medium-term users of the transmission system during the month; NDM=Number of days in the month NDY=Number of days in the year

Provided that the TCn shall be payable on monthly basis by each long-term user or medium-term user of the transmission system and shall be collected by the State Transmission Utility (STU).

34. Sharing of SLDC Charges

34.1 The SLDC Charges payable by the Transmission System Users shall be computed in accordance with the following formula:

SLDC Charges payable for a month SCn =(SC/12)*(ACn/SACn) Where, SCn= SLDC charge payable by nth Transmission System user; SC= Approved SLDC Aggregate Revenue Requirement for the year; ACn= Actual installed capacity of nth Transmission System users in case of generating stations including RE generators /long term and medium term contracted capacities in case of sellers/aggregated allocated capacity and contracted capacity in case of distribution licensee/long term contracted capacity in case of buyer. SACn= Sum of actual installed capacity of nth Transmission System users in case of generating stations including RE generators (within Bihar), long term and medium term contracted capacities in case of sellers, aggregated allocated capacity and contracted capacity in case of distribution licensee and long term contracted capacity in case of buyer."

34.2 The SLDC Charges approved for the Year shall be equally spread over the 12 months of the Year and SLDC Charges per MW per month shall be computed by SLDC accordingly.

34.3 Notwithstanding anything contained in these regulations, the Commission after conducting study and due regulatory process may notify the revised sharing and recovery of annual transmission charges of the transmission licensee.

35. Short-term bilateral transactions and short-term collective transactions

35.1 For short-term bilateral transactions and short-term collective transactions through power exchanges, the transmission tariff shall be denominated in Rs/kWh and shall be: Tc= ARR/Ei Where Ei=total energy input into the intra-State transmission system during the financial year.

35.2 The charges for using State Transmission Utility network by the consumers availing short-term open access or Temporary-GNA, as the case may be shall not be more than one hundred ten per cent of the charges levied on consumers using State Transmission Utility network on long-term basis or on General Network Access basis, as the case may be.

35.3 The revenue from short-term open access charges for each yearly period (t) of Control Period shall be taken to be same as that prevalent during the yearly period one year before the commencement of the Control Period. However, the adjustments due to variation in actual revenue from short-term open access charges shall be undertaken during annual truing up.

36. Separation of Transmission and SLDC functions

36.1 The Transmission Licensee shall separate its business into transmission and SLDC functions, and segregate its accounts between these two businesses, once the accounts of these two businesses are segregated SLDC shall file a separate application for determination of its fee and charges in accordance with these regulations. Till the segregation of the accounts is completed, the Transmission Licensee shall submit an Allocation Statement that contains the apportionment of costs and revenues to that business. The Allocation Statement, approved by the Board of Directors of the Licensee, shall be accompanied with an explanation of the methodology for apportionment which should be consistent over the Control Period.

36.2 SLDC charges shall be payable by various utilities as may be determined by the Commission in accordance with these Regulations. Provided that the RLDC Fees and Charges payable by the SLDC in accordance with the relevant Orders issued by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission from time to time shall be allowed to be recovered by the SLDC through the Fees and Charges as approved by the Commission. Provided further that, the ERPC Charges payable to the ERPC's Secretariat shall be allowed to be recovered by the SLDC through the Fees and Charges as approved by the Commission.

36.3 The SLDC shall have to produce documentary proof towards payment of such Charges at the time of Truing up. Provided that any variation between the approved RLDC Fees and Charges and ERPC Charges and that actually paid by the SLDC shall be considered during the true-up as per audited accounts, subject to prudence check and any other factor considered appropriate by the Commission.

37. Disincentive

37.1 The Transmission Licensee shall be liable to disincentive on account of deviation from target availability set by commission. The transmission charges referred to in Regulation 32 of these Regulations are inclusive of any such disincentives on account of availability of system.

38.1 For payment of bills of the transmission licensee through letter of credit on presentation or through National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT)/ Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), rebate shall be allowed as follows:

Provided that in case a different Rebate mechanism is provided in the TSA, the same shall be governed by the provisions of the TSA.

39. Late Payment Surcharge:

39.1 In case the payment of any bill for charges payable under these regulations is delayed by a beneficiary or long-term customer as the case may be, beyond a period of 45 days from the date of presentation of bills, a late payment surcharge as specified in the Ministry of Power – Electricity (Late Payment Surcharge and Related Matters) Rules, 2022 as amended from time to time shall be levied by the transmission licensee or SLDC.

Provided that in case a different LPS mechanism is provided in the TSA, the same shall be governed by the provisions of the TSA.

39.2 Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the charges payable by a beneficiary or long-term customer shall be first adjusted towards a late payment surcharge on the outstanding charges and, thereafter, towards monthly charges billed by the transmission licensee or SLDC, as the case may be, starting from the longest overdue bill.

PART-VI MISCELLANEOUS

40. Power to amend.—The Commission may, at anytime, amend, alter or modify any provision of these Regulations.

41. Power to remove difficulties

1. If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of these Regulations, the Commission may, by general or specific order, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of the Act, as may appear to be necessary for removing the difficulty.

42. Right to vary terms and conditions.—The terms and conditions for determination of tariff specified in these regulations are in the nature of general framework on the basis of which the tariff shall be determined. The Commission reserves its right to vary these terms and conditions, as and when deems fit.

43. Limitation of Power of Commission.—Nothing in these regulations shall be deemed to limit the powers of the Commission to deal with any matter or exercise any power under the relevant Acts for which no regulations have been made / framed and to make such orders as it may consider appropriate to meet the ends of justice in any case.

44. Repeal and savings.—

a. Save as otherwise provided in these regulations, BERC (Multi Year Transmission Tariff and SLDC Charges) Regulations, 2021 are hereby repealed.

b. Notwithstanding such repeal, any proceedings before the Commission pertaining to the period prior to the commencement of this Control Period, including Petitions for True up of exercises, annual performance review, etc. shall be governed by respective previous regulations.

By order of the Commission, Sd/-Illegible, Secretary.

Appendix-I

(See Reg. 16.2)

FORMAT FOR ISSUANCE OF AVAILABILITY CERTIFICATE BY SLDC

On the letterhead of SLDC

Ref:

To

.............................................................

.............................................................

Date: ..............................

Sub: Transmission System Availability Certificate for.....................

(Name of Transmission Licensee) for the month……

Ref: .............................................................

With reference to the above, SLDC has received the computation of transmission system availability with interruption details of Transmission network for the month__________, computed in accordance with the BERC (Multi Year Transmission Tariff) Regulations, 2024.

The overall Transmission System Availability of the Transmission network for the month _________, computed in accordance with Appendix-II of the BERC (MYT) Regulations, 2024, and after considering the provisions of BERC (MYT) Regulations, 2024, is ________________ %.

Authorised Signatory

Copy to ___________30 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Appendix-II

(See Reg. 16.2)

1. Transmission system availability factor for a calendar month (TAFM) shall be calculated by the respective Transmission Licensee certified by the SLDC, separately for each AC and HVDC transmission system and grouped according to sharing of transmission charges.

2. NAFM for A.C. and HVDC system / sub-systems shall be calculated as follows:

% TAFM for AC system o X AVo + p X AVp + q X AVq + r X AVr = ----------------------------------------------------------X 100

o + p + q + r

% TAFM for HVDC system

s X AVs + t X AVt = ----------------------------------X 100

S + t

Where

o = Total number of AC lines. AVo = Availability of o number of AC lines. p = Total number of bus reactors/switchable line reactors AVp = Availability of p number of bus reactors/switchable line reactors q = Total number of ICTs. AVq = Availability of q number of ICTs. r = Total number of SVCs. AVr = Availability of r number of SVCs. s = Total number of HVDC poles AVs = Availability of s number of HVDC poles t = Total number of HVDC back-to-back station blocks AVt = Availability of t number of HVDC back-to-back station blocks

The weightage factor for each category of transmission elements shall be as under:

(a) For each circuit of AC line – Surge Impedance Loading for Uncompensated line (SIL) multiplied by ckt-km. As specified in Annexure-B.

However, for the voltage levels and/or conductor configurations not listed in Annexure-B, appropriate SIL based on technical considerations may be used for availability calculation under intimation to long-term transmission customers.

For compensated AC line, Surge Impedance Loading (SIL) shall be as certified by the SLDC considering the compensation on the line.

For shunt compensated line the reduced value of SIL shall be taken in accordance with the location of the reactor. Similarly in case of the lines with series compensation the higher SIL shall be taken as per the percentage of compensation.

(b) For each HVDC pole- The rated MW capacity x ckt-km. (c) For each ICT bank – The rated MVA capacity. (d) For SVC- The rated MVAR capacity (inductive and capacitive). (e) For Bus Reactor/switchable line reactors – The rated MVAR capacity.

(f) For HVDC back-to-back station connecting two Regional grids/Intra State Sub-Stations- Rated MW capacity of each block.

The availability for each category of transmission elements shall be calculated based on the weightage factor, total hours under consideration and non-available hours for each element of that category.

FORMULAE FOR CALCULATION OF AVAILABILITY OF EACH CATEGORY OF TRANSMISSION ELEMENTS

AVo(Availability of o no. of AC lines)=

AVs(Availability of s no. of HVDC pole)=

AVq(Availability of q no. of ICTs)=

AVr(Availability of r no. of SVCs)=

AVp(Availability of p no. of Switched Bus Reactor)=

AVt (Availability of t no. of HVDC Back-to back Blocks)=

Where Wi = Weightage factor for ith transmission line Wj = Weightage factor for jth HVDC pole Wk= Weightage factor for kth ICT WIl&WCl= Weightage factors for inductive & capacitive operation of lth SVC Wm = Weightage factor for mth bus reactor Wn = Weightage factor for nth HVDC back to back block Ti, Tj, Tk, TIl, TCl, - The total hours of ith AC line,jth HVDC pole, kth ICT, lth SVC Tm&Tn(Inductive Operation), lth SVC (Capacitive Operation),mth Switched Bus Reactor &nth HVDC back-to- back block during the period under consideration (excluding32 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 time period for outages not attributable to transmission licensee .

TNAi,TNAj, TNAk- The non-availability hours (excluding the time period for outages not attributable to transmission licensee taken as deemed availability) for ith AC line, jth HVDC pole, KthICT, lth SVC (Inductive Operartion), ith SVC (Capacitive Operation), mth Switched Bus Reactor and nth HVDC back-to-back block.

TNAIl, TNACl, TNAm,TNAn . Note :-

"Factors have been applied in the above formula of NAFM such that a 315 MVA transformer would have the same weightage as a 200 km long D/C line with twin conductors, and a 50 MVAR switched reactor would have one-fourth the weightage of a 315 MVA transformer. The transmission lines shall have a weightage proportional to their circuit – km and number of sub-conductors (to which the current carrying capacity is directly proportional). Voltage has been omitted by design for the present, to deliberately enhance the weightage for 220 kV and 132 kV lines (as they are critical for supply to beneficiaries), and to suppress the weightage for 765 kV lines (since they presently carry power much below their capability). The Commission may review and modify the formula when the situation changes in future". 4. The transmission elements under outage due to following reasons shall be deemed to be available: i. Shut down availed for maintenance or construction of elements of another transmission scheme. If the other transmission scheme belongs to the Transmission Licensee, SLDC may restrict the deemed availability period to that considered reasonable for the work involved.

ii. Switching off of a transmission Iine to restrict over voltage and manual tripping of switched reactors as per the directions of SLDC. 5. Outage time of transmission elements for the following contingencies shall be excluded from the total time of the element under period of consideration. i. Outage of elements due to acts of God and force majeure events beyond the control of the Transmission Licensee. However, onus of satisfying the SLDC that element outage was due to aforesaid events and not due to design failure shall rest with the Transmission Licensee. A reasonable restoration time for the element shall be considered by SLDC and any additional time taken by the Transmission Licensee for restoration of the element beyond the reasonable time shall be treated as outage time attributable to the Transmission Licensee. SLDC may consult the Transmission Licensee or any expert for estimation of reasonable restoration time. Circuits restored through ERS (Emergency Restoration System) shall be considered as available. ii Outage caused by grid incident/disturbance not attributable to the Transmission Licensee, e.g. faults in substation or bays owned by other agency causing outage of the transmission licensee's elements, and tripping of lines, ICTs, HVDC, etc. due to grid disturbance. However, if the element is not restored on receipt of direction from SLDC while normalizing the system following grid incident/disturbance within reasonable time, the element shall be considered not available for the period of outage after issuance of SLDC's direction for restoration.

6. The format for issuance of Availability Certificate by SLDC is given in Appendix-I.

Annexure – A (See Regulation 24) Time schedule for completion of various transmission system

Annexure – B (see Appendix-II) SURGE IMPEDANCE LOADING (SIL) OF AC LINES Sr. No. Line voltage(kV) Conductor Configuration SIL(MW)

Form No: S1 Statement of Projected Profit and Loss

Signature of Petitioner36 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Name of Transmission Licensee Form No: S2 Projected Balance Sheet

Signature of Petitioner37 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Name of Transmission Licensee Projected Cash Flow Statement

Form No: S3

Signature of Petitioner38 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Name of Transmission Licensee Annual Revenue Requirement Form No: F1

Signature of Petitioner39 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Name of Transmission Licensee Form No: F2 Allotted Transmission Capacity and Charges to be paid by Long Term Transmission Customers Allotted Transmission Capacity of Long Term Transmission Customers ( CL)

Charges to be paid by Long Term Transmission Customers/month

Signature of Petitioner42 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Name of Transmission Licensee Revenue Form No: F4 At Current Tariff Rates Rs. Crores

Form No: F5 (d) Investment Plan (Scheme-wise) (Rs. in Cr.)

* Please furnish separately details regarding approval of Capital Investment under BERC (Procedure for Filing Capital Investment and Capitalization Plan) Regulations, 2018 and indicate the portion which is not approved under BERC (Procedure for Filing Capital Investment and Capitalization Plan) Regulations, 2018.

Note:

• The amount of grants and loans shall be furnished separately scheme wise and funding agency wise.

• Additional column may be inserted(if required) for Ensuing Years (Projection).

• All Information for previous year, current year (RE), Ensuing year must be in line with information approved in MYT/Business Plan (if any), other-wise a statement showing complete details of variation must be accompanied.

• CWIP shall mean Capital Work in Progress

(e) Investment Plan (Year-wise)

ii) Information for the current year to be given in columns 1 to 5 co-relating the information given in MYT/Business Plan (if any) iii) Amount of grants and loans shall be furnished separately funding Agency wise and year wise.

*Must be in agreement with the figures shown in Form No: F5 (page-2), otherwise a reconciliation statement must be accompanied. Note 1.Copy of approval letter should be enclosed. Deviation in capital cost and scope of work if any, must be submitted in detailed. 2. Details of IDC & Financing Charges are to be furnished as per FORM- .

(g) Financial Package of Capital cost Admitted Rs. Crores

(h) Capital Cost Estimates and Schedule of commissioningfor New Projects

Signature of Petitioner47 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Name of Transmission Licensee (i) Break-up of Project Cost for Transmission System Form No: F5

Note: 1. In case of time & Cost overrun, a detailed note giving reasons of such time and cost overrun should be submitted clearly bring out the agency responsible and whether such time & cost overrun was beyond the control of the transmission licensee.

2. Above statement to be provided separately for each transmission line commissioned during the ARR period49 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Name of Transmission Licensee (j) Break-up of Construction/ Supply/ Service packages Form No:F5

1. Above statement to be provided separately for each work commissioned during the period, work under progress and part capitalization done in earlier years. 2. Statement as Per Form F5-6 to be duly reconciled with corresponding Cost Break Up to be provided as per Form F5-5 , for each transmission line commissioned during the True-up, Review and ARR period

* Pertaining to Transmission Business Only, SLDC shall file separately

Signature of Petitioner50 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Name of Transmission Licensee (k) Statement of Additional Capitalization Form No: F5

Note: 1 Fill the form in chronological order year wise along with detailed justification clearly bring out the necessity and the benefits accruing to the beneficiaries.

2 In case initial spares are purchased alongwith any equipment, then the cost of such spares should be indicated separately. * Pertaining to Transmission Business Only, SLDC shall file separately51 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Name of Transmission Licensee (l) Statement of Capital Works in Progress Form No: F5

Form No: F5 (m) Capital Work-In-Progress (CWIP) ((Rs. Crores))

Name of Transmission Licensee Normative Parameters Considered for Tariff Computations Form No: F6

Rs. Crores

Signature of Petitioner54 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Name of Transmission Licensee Form No: 7 (b) Gross Fixed Assets (GFA) (Information to be supplied for the previous year (actuals), current year (RE) and the ensuring year (s) (projections)

* Pertaining to Transmission Business Only, SLDC shall file separately

Name of Transmission Licensee

(f) Statement of Assets Not in Use

Form No: F7

Signature of Petitioner56 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Name of Transmission Licensee User contributions and grants towards cost of capital assets (Rs. Crores) Form No: F8

(a) Details of Loans for the year

*The amount of penal interest, if any, to be shown separately. (b) Further Details in case of Foreign Loans

* Pertaining to Transmission Business Only, SLDC shall file separately

Note:Information to be supplied separately for the previous year (actuals), current year(RE) and ensuing years

(c) Information Regarding Restructuring of Outstanding Loans During the Year

(d) Domestic loans, bonds and financial leasing

Signature of Petitioner59 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Form No: F9 Name of Transmission Licensee (e) Statement of Reconciliation of Net Actual Loan (opening) with Net Normative Loan (Opening)

* Pertaining to Transmission Business Only, SLDC shall file separately60 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Form No: F10 Name of Transmission Licensee Details of Equity (a) Details of Foreign Equity

¹ Name of the currency to be mentioned e.g. US $, etc. ² In case of equity infusion more than once during the year, Exchange rate at the date of each infusion to be provided

(b) Details of Indian Equity

Interest and Finance Charges(Rs. Crores)

* Year-wise details should be submitted with documentary evidence. Further Rate of interest of various loans to be indicated in a separate sheet.

Interest (IDC) Capitalized

Lease details(Rs. Crores)

Form No: F13 Name of Transmission Licensee

Operations & Maintenance Cost

Signature of Petitioner * Pertaining to Transmission Business Only, SLDC shall file separately64 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Form No: F14 Name of Transmission Licensee (a) Employee Expenses

Note:

(i) Terminal benefits paid for the period before the date of reorganisation i.e. 01.11.2012, shall not be considered.

(ii) In respect of continuing employees as on the date of reorganisation and newly appointed employees after re-organisation date the terminal benefits shall be allowed.

(iii) In respect of item 6, a brief description to be appended.

* Pertaining to Transmission Business Only, SLDC shall file separately

Form No: F14 Name of Transmission Licensee

(b) Consumer Price Inflation

Rs. Crores

Note CPI and WPI Inflation computed for current year shall be considered for control period at the time of filing of ARR.CPI inflation shall be determined at the time of truing up. Signature of Petitioner * Pertaining to Transmission Business Only, SLDC shall file separately65 BIHAR GAZETTE (EXTRA) 4TH NOVEMBER 2024 Form No: F14 Name of Transmission Licensee

Form No: F14 Name of Transmission Licensee

(d) Employees Productivity Parameters

R&M Expenses