M/S. SALASAR STEEL & POWER LTD & OTHERS Vs. CHHATTISGARH STATE POWER TRADING COMPANY LIMITED & OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) "Whether the Appellants, the Generating Companies, are entitled to claim for the payment of "delayed payment surcharge" from the Chhattisgarh State Power Trading Company, 1st Respondent, for the delay in making the payment towards the bills issued by the Appellants for the sale of electricity to the said Trading Company during the relevant period as per the Power Purchase Agreements executed between them - 1. This is the question posed in this Batch of Appeals.

(2.) The common judgment is being rendered by this Tribunal in these Appeals since the Impugned Order dated 31.10.2013 is a Common Order passed by the Chhattisgarh Commission dismissing the Petitions filed by the Appellant claiming for the delayed payment surcharge dealing with the common issue.

(3.) The short facts are as follows: (a) The Appellants are the Captive Generating Plants. The Chhattisgarh State Power Trading Company Limited (Trading Company) is the First Respondent who is a Trading Company. The six PPAs were executed between the Appellants and the Trading Company (R -1) during the period between 1.2.2011 and 15.7.2011. (b) In accordance with the PPAs, the Appellants have supplied electricity to the Trading Company (R -1) during the period between 1.2.2011 and 15.7.2011. The Appellants after supply raised the timely bills. However, the payments for various bills raised during the period between February, 2011 and July, 2011 were not paid by the Trading Company (R -1) within due date as stipulated in the PPAs. However, they were subsequently paid with considerable delay. (c) As per the relevant Clauses of the PPAs which are identical, the Appellants are entitled for the claim for delayed payment surcharge for the period between Feb, 2011 and July, 2011 if there was a delay in payment. As per the PPAs, the payment shall be made within a period of 30 days from the date of the bill. (d) In these Appeals, the delay occurred for payment of bills raised earlier would range from 6 days to 268 days as the case may be. (e) Since there was a considerable delay, the claim was made for the delayed payment surcharge through the letters sent to the Trading Company by the Appellants on various dates. Despite the receipt of the letters, there was no response from the Trading Company (R -1). Hence, all the Appellants approached the State Commission and filed separate Petitions praying for adjudicating the dispute and for giving a direction to the Trading Company to make the payment towards the delayed payment surcharge as per the PPA. (f) The State Commission, after hearing the parties, dismissed all the Petitions filed by various Appellants by the order dated 31.10.2013 holding that the Appellants are not entitled to the payments towards the delayed payment charges on the ground that the Appellants had neither raised any objection at the time of payment by refusing to receive the payments without any delayed payment surcharge nor received the payment by making their protest reserving their rights for the delayed payment surcharge and thereby the Appellants by their own conduct, have waived their right to claim delayed payment surcharge. (g) Aggrieved by this Impugned Order dated 31.10.2013 dismissing the claim of the Appellants, the Appellants have filed these separate Appeals raising the common grounds challenging the findings rendered by the State Commission as against the Appellants.