Change-in-Law Costs Still Ripple Through The Grid
CERC’s April 2025 Change-in-Law ruling continues to change how India shares sudden regulatory cost shocks inside the transmission system.
This is not a one-time impact. It is now structural.
A procedural looking instruction that quietly rewired the pool
When CERC passed Order 131/MP/2024, it looked like just another directive.
But it changed the recovery protocol: every approved Change-in-Law claim now gets built directly into monthly ISTS computation by NLDC — instead of being handled as separate delayed settlements.
Monthly billing rounds now reveal it
From the October + November 2025 rounds, NLDC notifications show this is now fully autopilot.
Each new tax/duty/compliance-driven cost escalation gets added to Yearly Transmission Charges (YTC) of the affected licensee — and then spreads across all DIC states through PoC.
Even though total national transmission charges dipped from Rs 3,985 cr in Oct to Rs 3,773 cr in Nov — state level share weights quietly shifted because mid-cycle Change-in-Law claims were embedded.
Invisible cost re-allocation
Nothing shows as a “surcharge”.
But the redistribution is real. And monthly.
Transmission developers gain revenue predictability. States lose opacity-free visibility.
Usage signal + regulatory compensation = same merged number now.
Structural impact
India’s national transmission pool has now become a continuous micro-shock absorber.
Not episodic. Not quarterly dispute based.
This one April 2025 order permanently turned Change-in-Law from an event… into an ongoing dynamic inside ISTS pricing.
silent monthly nationalised redistribution.
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