APTEL's Decision on Deemed Distribution Licensee and Compensation

The dispute between Indian Railways and state distribution companies was taken to the APTEL. The APTEL first examined whether the Railways was a deemed distribution licensee and if it should pay extra charges to the distribution companies. Ultimately, the APTEL concluded that the Railways' relationship with the distribution companies was more like a landlord-tenant relationship rather than a supplier-consumer one, nullifying the deemed distribution licensee status given by the CERC. Therefore, the Railways was required to compensate the distribution companies. Additionally, even if the Railways was considered a deemed distribution licensee, it would still have to pay the extra charges since it utilized all the electricity for its own operations and did not sell any excess power to consumers. As a result, the Indian Railways is expected to see an increase of around 2500 crore rupees in their electricity bill, possibly resulting in higher ticket prices.