Procedure for grant of licence

Section 15 of the Electricity Act, 2003 deals with procedure for grant of licence. Every application under section 14 shall be made in such form and in such manner as may be specified by the Appropriate Commission and shall be accompanied by such fee as may be prescribed. The Act came into force on 10 Jun 2003.

(1) Every application under section 14 shall be made in such form and in such manner as may be specified by the Appropriate Commission and shall be accompanied by such fee as may be prescribed.

(2) Any person who has made an application for grant of licence shall, within seven days after making such application, publish a notice of his application with such particulars and in such manner as may be specified and a licence shall not be granted

(i) until the objections, if any, received by the Appropriate Commission in response to publication of the application have been considered by it:

Provided that no objection shall be so considered unless it is received before the expiration of thirty days from the date of the publication of the notice as aforesaid;

(ii) until, in the case of an application for a licence for an area including the whole or any part of any cantonment, aerodrome, fortress, arsenal, dockyard or camp or of any building or place in the occupation of the Government for defence purposes, the Appropriate Commission has ascertained that there is no objection to the grant of the licence on the part of the Central Government.

(3) A person intending to act as a transmission licensee shall, immediately on making the application, forward a copy of such application to the Central Transmission Utility or the State Transmission Utility, as the case may be.

(4) The Central Transmission Utility or the State Transmission Utility, as the case may be, shall, within thirty days after the receipt of the copy of the application referred to in sub-section (3), send its recommendations, if any, to the Appropriate Commission:

Provided that such recommendations shall not be binding on the Commission.

(5) Before granting a licence under section 14, the Appropriate Commission shall--

(a) publish a notice in two such daily newspapers, as that Commission may consider necessary, stating the name and address of the person to whom it proposes to issue the licence;

(b) consider all suggestions or objections and the recommendations, if any, of the Central Transmission Utility or State Transmission Utility, as the case may be.

(6) Where a person makes an application under sub-section (1) of section 14 to act as a licensee, the Appropriate Commission shall, as far as practicable, within ninety days after receipt of such application,--

(a) issue a licence subject to the provisions of this Act and the rules and regulations made thereunder; or

(b) reject the application for reasons to be recorded in writing if such application does not conform to the provisions of this Act or the rules and regulations made thereunder or the provisions of any other law for the time being in force:

Provided that no application shall be rejected unless the applicant has been given an opportunity of being heard.

(7) The Appropriate Commission shall, immediately after issue of a licence, forward a copy of the licence to the Appropriate Government, Authority, local authority, and to such other person as the Appropriate Commission considers necessary.

(8) A licence shall continue to be in force for a period of twenty-five years unless such licence is revoked.

Section 15, The Electricity Act, 2003 (Act 36 of 2003).