The Central Electricity Authority (“CEA”), on February 23, 2026, has released the Draft CEA (Installation and Operation of Meters) Amendment Regulations, 2026 (“Draft Regulations”). CEA has proposed amendments to Regulation 4 (Types of Meters) and Regulation 7 (Location of Meters) of the CEA (Installation and Operation of Meters) Regulations, 2006 (“Principal Regulations”). These amendments further the ongoing policy push towards smart metering and advanced metering infrastructure (“AMI”) and refine the metering framework under the Principal Regulations.
Stakeholders have been invited to submit their comments on the Draft Regulations by March 26, 2026.
Salient features
Expansion of smart meter and AMI requirements
The Draft Regulations propose to add 2 (two) new provisos to Regulation 4 (1) (b) of the Principal Regulations. These include the following:
- AMI must support pre-payment functionality and must be interoperable in accordance with the guidelines issued by the CEA; and
- smart meters of relevant Indian Standard with an accuracy class of 1.0/0.5S will function as interface meters for open access consumers at voltage levels not exceeding 650 (six hundred and fifty) volts.
Revised location of interface meters for open access consumers
The Draft Regulations also propose the following amendments to Regulation 7 (1) (a) by modifying the provisions relating to interface meters for open access consumers:
- for consumers directly connected to inter-State transmission systems or intra-State transmission systems or distribution system and permitted open access at voltage levels exceeding 650 (six hundred and fifty) volts, the main meter and the check meter will be at the consumer premises. The standby meter will be either on separate instrument transformers at the consumer premises or at the licensee’s sub-station, as mutually agreed; and
- a new category has been introduced for open access consumers at voltage levels not exceeding 650 (six hundred and fifty) Under this category, the main meter and check meter must be installed at the consumer premises.
Conclusion
The Draft Regulations seek to modernise the metering infrastructure by making the existing smart metering rollout more robust. It will also address the issue of non-payment and boost revenue collection. At the same time, interoperability will bring in healthy competition between vendors. The Draft Regulations provide an opportunity to stakeholders including open access consumers to submit comments in respect of their network planning and finalisation of structural plans.
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