COIMBATORE: Several industrial associations from Coimbatore have started appealing to the Madras High Court against a May 2025 order on the collection of network charges from industrial units with a rooftop solar system. The organisations claim that all industries, except for members of the industrial association SISPA, are being forced to pay a network charge of up to Rs 1.04.
M Jayabal, president of the Recycle Textile Federation, said, "The Madras High Court ordered Tangedco not to collect network charges in response to petitions by several industrial organisations on March 23, 2025. Tangedco has not followed the order after obtaining a separate order from the High Court on April 28 by invoking the case of an individual mill owner. After that, industries associated with all other associations have been charged network fees, except for members of one association."
"SISPA was the first petitioner to get an order against the network charges. Afterward, all other associations, including ours, joined the case and obtained a similar order. Despite this, we have started appealing to the High Court again against the collection of these charges. Our association filed an appeal with the High Court in July," he added.
S Jagadesh Chandran, secretary of SISPA, said, "We were not charged network fees until July. However, the bill we received for August included the network charges. When we asked the electricity board officials, they said it was a software problem and assured us that the amount would be adjusted in upcoming bills. According to the court order, network charges should not be collected, but there is a lot of confusion surrounding the issue."
When contacted, a senior official from Tangedco said, "Based on the court order, the network charge is being collected from industries that are using the power grid. Instead of appealing, the industries can approach the TNERC to settle the issue."