The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) has upheld the denial of captive generating plant status to Piccadily Agro Industries Ltd. and Piccadily Hotels Private Ltd., holding that the prescribed ownership threshold and the prescribed self-consumption threshold must each be satisfied independently, and that a shortfall in either costs the unit its captive status for that year.
The appellants had claimed captive status in order to enjoy banking benefits. The distribution licensee, Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd., found that Piccadily Hotels had consumed only 37.24% of the electricity generated by the designated unit in FY 2020-21, below the 51% minimum self-consumption requirement under Rule 3(1)(a)(ii) of the Electricity Rules, 2005. It raised a demand of Rs. 68,03,220 to reverse the banking benefits it said had been wrongly availed.
In Appeal No. 76 of 2024, decided on 17 September 2026, a bench of Judicial Member Virender Bhat and Technical Member Ajay Talegaonkar upheld the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission's refusal of captive status. It held that at least 26% equity ownership and at least 51% actual annual self-consumption are separate requirements, and that meeting one does not make up for missing the other.