Govt proposes to relax rooftop solar norms The union power ministry on Friday released a draft amendment to the Rights of Consumer rules, which it had laid down in December, 2020, where the aforementioned relaxation has been proposed. Stakeholders have been asked to comment on the draft amendments by April 30. To provide relief to the rooftop solar industry, the government has proposed to allow rooftop solar installations with up to 500 kilowatt (kW) capacity to be billed under ‘net metering’. If the proposal is approved, those who have rooftop solar panels will receive higher tariffs from power distribution companies (discoms) for the surplus power sold to the discoms. The union power ministry on Friday released a draft amendment to the Rights of Consumer rules, which it had laid down in December, 2020, where the aforementioned relaxation has been proposed. Stakeholders have been asked to comment on the draft amendments by April 30. The earlier version of the consumer rights rules, which allowed ‘net metering’ for only upto 10 kW rooftop capacities, was seen to impede the pace of capacity addition of rooftop solar in the country by disincentivising commercial and industrial users from installing such power generation capacities in their premises. While such consumers can earn around `7/unit by selling the surplus power generated from their rooftop solar plants through net metering, under the December, 2020 mandate they were to be billed through “gross metering”, and compensated at around Rs 3.5 – Rs 4/unit