Vineet Mittal on MOEFCC’s Green Credit Program in India CSR

Recent policies like The Green Credit Programme Implementation Rules, 2023 & Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020 implemented by Government of India via Gazette notifications are worth appreciating.

Ministry Of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Notification (MOEFCC) has implemented The Green Credit Program Implementation Rules, 2023. In the Green Credit Program, a domestic voluntary market mechanism will be developed and Green Credits will be available for trading on a domestic market platform. This will create a market based mechanism to provide incentive for environment positive actions. Green Credit is a singular unit of incentive provided for some special activities which impacts the environment positively.

Green credits can be generated for Tree Plantation, Water Conservation, Reuse & Harvesting, Natural and regenerative agricultural practices & land restoration, Waste Management, Air Pollution Abatement, conserving & restoring of Mangroves & Sustainable Building & Infrastructure. Digital processes will be developed for self-assessments, registration, issuance, monitoring, audit & verification of eligible Green Credit activities.

The Green Credit registry will be available in the form of a standardized electronic database which contains data relevant to the issuance, holding, transfer and acquisition of Green Credits. This Program shall be based on voluntary participation of all stakeholders.

Added to the Green Credits, one more gazette implemented by the Government of India (GOI). The central government has amended the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020. In these rules, all types of smart meters shall be read remotely at least once in a day. The data regarding energy consumption shall be made available to the consumer through website/mobile application/SMS and consumers having pre-payment meters shall also be given data access to check their consumption and balance amount on daily basis.

GOI has implemented Time of Day (TOD) tariff which means customers have to pay for their electricity consumption based on the time of electricity consumption. Time of Day (TOD) Tariff for C&I consumers having maximum demand >10 kW will be implemented by 1st April, 2024 & for other consumers it will be implemented by 1st April, 2025. During peak hours, TOD charges will be 1.2 times of normal tariff for C & I consumers and for other consumers, it will be at least 1.1 times of normal tariff.

For people using Solar Electricity, tariff rules are different. Solar hours will be the duration of 8 hours in a day as specified by State Commission. Tariff for “SOLAR HOURS” will be at least 20% lesser than normal tariff for respective category of consumer and by this rule Government is encouraging consumers to use Solar Electricity.

The duration of peak hours shall not be more than “SOLAR HOURS” as notified by the SLDC. TOD Tariff shall be applicable on energy charge component of the normal tariff. The tariff for each category of consumers shall be displayed on distribution licensee’s website and consumers shall be notified of any changes through energy bills/SMS/Mobile applications.

We believe that the The Green Credit Program Implementation Rules, 2023 & Rights of Consumers Amendment Rules, 2023 aim to promote environment positive actions via Green Credits, monetize Climate Positive actions, modernize the power sector through smart grid technologies, TOD pricing & encourage the usage of renewable energy.