JSA Advocates and Solicitors (JSA) successfully represented Techno Electric & Engineering Co. Ltd. ("Techno"), a leading power generator and infrastructure giant, before Appellate Tribunal for Electricity ("APTEL"). By way of Judgment dated 14.09.2026, in a rare occasion, APTEL granted final relief at an interlocutory stage to Techno. By such Judgment, APTEL held that the Order passed by Tamil Nadu Electricity Regulatory Commission ("TNERC") dated 06.03.2026 in M.P. No. 42 of 2025 would neither affect the entitlement of Techno to recover Late Payment Surcharge ("LPS") from Tamil Nadu's Discom, nor the trigger date of Techno's LPS invoices.
By an earlier Judgment dated 31.05.2019, APTEL had already crystallized that Techno shall be entitled to recover LPS from Tamil Nadu Discom from the date the capped tariff was affected until date of payment. Subsequently, TNERC had also passed an Order dated 20.11.2020 re-enforcing that Techno shall be entitled to recover LPS from the date the capped tariff was affected until date of payment. Accordingly, Techno had raised LPS invoices on Tamil Nadu's Discom and uploaded them on PRAAPTI portal on 09.07.2026, with trigger date of 24.09.2026.
However, on 17.07.2026, Tamil Nadu Discom objected stating that the law has since been altered pursuant to an Order dated 06.03.2026 passed by TNERC in M.P. No. 42 of 2025 [TNPCL vs. Tata Power] wherein TNERC held that generator's entitlement to LPS, on delayed payment of APPC arrears shall accrue from 28.01.2025, instead from the date when the capped APPC was affected by TNPDCL. The said Order dated 06.03.2026 also carried a direction that the findings in such Order shall "be applicable to all similar types of generators".
Ergo, Techno was constrained to challenge the TNERC's Order dated 06.03.2026 before APTEL, to the extent it covered Techno under its sweep. It was argued that since Techno's right to seek LPS 'from the date the capped tariff was affected until date of payment' is squarely covered earlier Judgment of APTEL dated 31.05.2019 and TNERC's own Order dated 20.11.2020, therefore, the phrase which makes the TNERC's Order dated 06.03.2026 to apply in rem ought NOT apply to Techno.
APTEL, by Judgment dated 14.09.2026, disposed of the Appeal in favour of Techno to hold that the general directions issued by TNERC in Order dated 06.03.2026 would: –
(i) NOT apply to Techno for the reason that the entitlement of Techno has already been decided by APTEL in the judgment dated 31.05.2019.
(ii) NOT affect Techno's entitlement to LPS and trigger date of invoices of Techno raised in terms of APTEL's Judgment dated 31.05.2019 and the consequent TNERC Order dated 20.11.2020.
This Judgment not just clears the artificial roadblock created by Tamil Nadu Discom for Techno to recover its legitimate entitlement to LPS for illegally withheld APPC dues, but also, shows the light for 'all similar types of generators' to cite this Judgment as a precedent to assail the 'in rem' applicability of Orders passed by Electricity Commissions while dealing with purely non-tariff bilateral commercial disputes.
Our Disputes team comprised Poonam Verma Sengupta, Lead Partner; Saunak Rajguru, Principal Associate,and Pradyumn Amit Sharma,Associate.