T’puram: Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission (KSERC) dismissed a petition filed by Technopark seeking approval for an operation and maintenance agreement with KSEB for facilities at 110kV Kazhakkoottam substation, holding that the issue is outside the commission’s jurisdiction and must be dealt with under contract law.The panel said the petition filed by the govt run park was “procedurally improper, legally invalid and not maintainable”.KSERC held that a standalone O&M agreement between two entities is a contractual arrangement and does not come within the statutory functions of the commission under Section 86 of the Electricity Act, 2003. Technopark had approached KSERC seeking approval of an O&M agreement with KSEB for two 110kV transformer bays and associated equipment at 110kV Kazhakkoottam substation, which supplies power to Technopark Phase-I. It had also sought examination of KSEB’s demand for Rs 8.07 crore as O&M charges for the period from 2008-09 to 2025-26.The commission, however, made it clear that such contractual disputes cannot be adjudicated by it unless they fall within its limited statutory jurisdiction. It said matters arising from O&M agreements should be pursued before the appropriate civil court or arbitral forum.Technopark had argued that KSEB’s O&M rates were illogical and had sought direction to recompute the charges. KSEB claimed Rs 55 lakh for 2008-09, Rs 2.94 crore for 2009-14, Rs 1.13 crore for 2014-18 and Rs 3.45 crore for 2018-26, totaling Rs 8.07 crore.The dispute has its roots in 2008, when KSEB began raising demands for O&M charges for transformer bays installed under work-deposit schemes. Technopark disputed the claim, contending that such charges were not covered by any prior agreement.In an earlier order in a petiton filed in 2011, the commission had held that KSEB could not unilaterally demand such charges without an agreement or approval from the commission. In the present order, however, the commission clarified that its earlier decision did not mean that the parties could bring a standalone O&M agreement for approval in the present manner.
