Supreme Court in BSES Ltd. v. Tata Power Co. Ltd. (supra). This Court in the aforesaid decision has observed as under:
“16. The word “tariff” has not been defined in the Act.
“Tariff” is a cartel of commerce and normally it is a book of rates. It will mean a schedule of standard prices or charges provided to the category or categories of customers specified in the tariff. Subsection (1) of Section 22 clearly lays down that the State Commission shall determine the tariff for electricity (wholesale, bulk, grid or retail) and also for use of transmission facilities. It has also the power to regulate power purchase of the distribution utilities including the price at which the power shall be procured from the generating companies for transmission, sale, distribution, and supply in the State. “Utility” has been defined in Section 2(l) of the Act and it means any person or entity engaged in the generation, transmission, sale, distribution or supply, as the case may be, of energy.
Under Section 62 of the Electricity Act, the Commission has power to fixe the tariff rate. The word ‘tariff’ has not been defined in the Act. Tariff means a schedule of 55 standard/prices or charges provided to the category or categories for procurement by licensee from generating company, wholesale or bulk or retail/various categories of consumers. After taking into consideration the factors in Section 61(1)(a) to (i), the State Commission determined the tariff rate for various categories including Solar Power PV project and the same is applied uniformly throughout the State.
When the said tariff rate as determined by the Tariff Order (2010) is incorporated in the PPA between the parties, it is a matter of contract between the parties. In my view, respondent No.1 is bound by the terms and conditions of PPA entered into between respondent No.1 and the appellant by mutual consent and that the State Commission was not right in exercising its inherent jurisdiction by extending the first control period beyond its due date and thereby substituting its view in the PPA, which is essentially a matter of contract between the parties.
[Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Ltd. Vs. Solar Semiconductor Power Company (India) Pvt. Ltd. and Others[SC 2017]
