Mumbai, Mar 11 (FN Agency) In a bid to aid ease of doing business in the power sector, the Ministry of Power reduced nearly 79 compliances that were affecting the industry and consumers in 2021. The government had launched a regulatory compliance portal, a central online repository of all central and state-level compliances to reduce the regulatory compliance burden of citizens and businesses. “During 2021, Ministry of Power had eased compliances related to 79 issues affecting industry and consumer,” the Ministry said in a statement issued here. The Ministry has started a fresh exercise for 2022 and has prepared an action plan for the year under two phases, it said. The first phase will continue till March 31, 2022 while the second phase will continue till August 15, 2022. “This exercise should be conducted at state level as well and uploaded on the RCB portal for the benefit of all customers and stakeholders,” Union Minister of Power RK Singh stated.
Under the initiative, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has simplified the implementation of the standards & labelling (S&L) program and has also introduced digitalization and online tracking of status of application for manufacturers. Central Transmission Utility (CTU) has also eased Connectivity Bank Guarantee under revised RE procedure unlocking about Rs 400 crore for renewable energy developers. Apart from this, Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) has enhanced the Validity of registration for REC from 5 years to 10 years. Various regulations made by the CEA and CERC have been repealed or amended to aim at less regulation and simplification, the Ministry added. Ease of Doing Business-Reducing Compliance Burden (EoDB-RCB) is a program of the government to reduce the regulatory compliance burden on citizens and businesses. The EoDB-RCB exercise focuses on reducing compliances related to licenses, certificates, permissions, renewals, inspections, returns/filings, registers or records, decriminalization, and involves assessment of regulations including repeal of redundant laws.