Understand the key differences between Net Metering, Net Billing, and Gross Metering, and learn how each mechanism impacts rooftop solar savings, exports, tariffs, and system sizing across India.
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Get In Touch NowYou spent two lakh rupees. The system is generating. The bill hasn’t moved. And the person on the DISCOM helpline has told you to “wait for the next cycle” twice.
You are not imagining it, and you are not alone. In late July 2026 the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy publicly acknowledged that it has received several complaints about incorrect electricity bills issued by DISCOMs following residential rooftop solar installation. The Ministry said such complaints are being referred to the respective state DISCOMs and utilities for resolution.
That acknowledgement is useful — it means nobody can tell you this is a rare or imaginary problem. But read the second half carefully, because most coverage skipped it: MNRE created no new remedy. It did not announce new guidelines and it did not open a central grievance channel. The route back to a correct bill still runs through your DISCOM, then the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum, then the Electricity Ombudsman.
This guide is that route, with the timelines, the legal basis and the documents you need at each step.
Before escalating anything, identify the failure. The remedy differs.
Look at your bill for a line reading “export units,” “units exported,” “solar export,” or a second reading block. If it is absent or zero while your inverter shows generation and your net meter’s export register is moving, the DISCOM’s billing system is not reading the export register.
This is the most common failure and usually a data-entry or meter-configuration problem rather than a meter fault.
Look for “provisional,” “estimated” or an “average billing” note. Under Rule 6(9) of the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, a DISCOM may issue no more than two provisional bills in a financial year. If provisional billing continues beyond two cycles — absent force majeure — you may refuse to pay until an actual-reading bill is raised.
This is the single most useful clause in the Rules for a solar prosumer, and almost nobody knows it exists.
Your meter is installed and your commissioning certificate is signed, but the connection is still flagged as an ordinary consumer in the billing master. Symptom: the bill looks exactly as it did before solar, in format as well as amount.
The export register isn’t advancing despite confirmed generation, or the readings do not reconcile with your inverter log. Rule 5(7) entitles you to demand testing where meter readings are “not being commensurate with his consumption of electricity.”
Your surplus from earlier months has not been carried into the current bill. Note that in Tamil Nadu, net metering surplus legitimately lapses on 31 March — that is the rule, not an error. Everywhere else, check your state’s settlement period before complaining.
Four provisions of the Electricity(Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020 are worth quoting in your complaint.Citing them changes the tone of the conversation.
Rule 15 caps grievance redressal at a maximum of 45 days.
The escalation ladder
Step 0 — Build the file first (one evening’s work)
Do not start complaining until you have these. Every stage will ask for them, and the consumer who arrives with a documented file is treated differently from the one who arrives with a grievance.
• Your commissioning certificate from the DISCOM and the net metering agreement
• Six months of bills, or every bill since commissioning if less
• Inverter generation logs, month by month — screenshot the monitoring app
• Net meter photographs showing both import and export registers, dated
• A written timeline of every call and visit: date, time, who you spoke to, what they said, complaint or ticket number
• The installer’s contact record — under PM Surya Ghar your vendor owes you five years of comprehensive maintenance and should be doing some of this work for you
Step 1 — Formal written complaint to the DISCOM (allow 15–30 days)
Not a phone call. A written complaint, submitted through the DISCOM’s online portal or at the sub-division office, with an acknowledgement or ticket number recorded. An unacknowledged complaint did not happen.
State the error, the period affected, the rule you are relying on, and the correction you want. There is a template at the end of this article.
If your meter is the suspected problem, ask expressly for meter testing under Rule 5(7) and note that no test fee is payable at the time of reporting under Rule 5(8).
Step 2 — Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF)
Every distribution licensee is required to have one under Section 42(5) of the Electricity Act, 2003. Filing is free.
A rooftop solar billing complaint sits squarely inside CGRF jurisdiction. The forum cannot hear cases about unauthorised use of electricity under Section 126, theft or offences under Sections 135–139, accidents, or matters already before a court — none of which is your situation.
Two hard limits. You must file within two years of the cause of action. And procedure is set by each State Commission, so timelines differ:
• Maharashtra (MERC Regulations 2020): internal redressal first — 15 working days for billing complaints. Then CGRF, which must decide billing matters within 60 working days. Review within 30 days. Then Ombudsman within 60 days of the order.
• Gujarat (GERC Regulations 2019, amended 2023): a two-tier structure — Circle/Zonal Forum, then Company-level Forum, then the Ombudsman. GERC’s live procedure page gives 30 days to escalate; a draft amendment proposed 15. File early rather than testing which applies.
A genuinely useful feature in Maharashtra: MERC Regulation 8.10 lets you be represented by a non-advocate — a relative, neighbour or friend — provided they are unpaid and file a declaration. And MSEDCL’s published procedure expressly allows you to request third-party inspection through the Forum, with the cost deposited in advance.
Step 3 — Electricity Ombudsman
Under Section 42(6), you may escalate if you are dissatisfied with the CGRF’s order or if the CGRF fails to decide in time. Filing is free in both Gujarat and Maharashtra.
One asymmetry in your favour, confirmed by the Supreme Court: only a consumer may appeal to the Ombudsman. A distribution licensee cannot appeal a CGRF order it dislikes.
You will need a written representation, a supporting affidavit, certified copies of the Forum’s order and your original complaint, and proof that a copy has been served on the respondents. If the Forum’s order requires you to pay any amount, deposit one-third of it and attach proof.
Step 4 — Consumer Commission, in parallel
This is where most guidance is simply wrong, so it is worth being precise.
Electricity disputes are not excluded from consumer commissions. In U.P. Power Corporation Ltd. v. Anis Ahmad (2013), the Supreme Court held that the Electricity Act and consumer protection law “run parallel,” and that a consumer may approach a consumer forum where the complaint concerns deficiency in service, unfair trade practice, or being charged in excess of the price fixed by law. What is excluded is a challenge to a Section 126 assessment for unauthorised use, and offences under Sections 135–140.
A billing error, a failure to credit exported units, a failure to implement net metering — all are pleadable as deficiency in service.
The pleading matters. Anis Ahmad itself failed because the complainants pleaded only against a Section 126 assessment and did not allege deficiency in service. Plead it expressly.
Practicalities: the District Commission handles claims up to ₹50 lakh, which covers every residential rooftop dispute. Limitation is two years. Filing is free where the consideration paid is up to ₹5 lakh. File online at e-jagriti.gov.in, or edaakhil.nic.in. The National Consumer Helpline is 1915 for free pre-litigation mediation — useful, and not a precondition.
Our honest advice: use CGRF first. It is free, faster and staffed by people who understand metering. Keep the consumer commission for a dispute with your installer rather than your DISCOM — that is where it does its best work.
To: The Executive Engineer / Nodal Officer, [DISCOM name], [Sub-division] Subject: Incorrect billing following commissioning of rooftop solar — Consumer No. [xxxx]
I am a registered prosumer under [net metering / net billing]. My [X] kW rooftop solar system was commissioned on [date], vide commissioning certificate no. [xxxx], and a bi-directional meter bearing no. [xxxx] was installed on [date].
For the billing periods [months], my bill does not reflect the electricity exported to the grid. My inverter generation log records [X] units generated over this period, and the export register of the net meter read [X] on [date] (photograph enclosed). No export units appear on any bill for this period.
Under Rule 11(13) of the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, energy generated by a prosumer shall be adjusted against energy consumed or against the bill amount. Under Rule 6(2), bills are to be prepared on actual meter reading.
I request that you: (i) verify the net meter reading and the billing configuration for my connection; (ii) test the meter under Rule 5(7), no fee being payable at the time of reporting under Rule 5(8); (iii) issue revised bills for the above periods; and (iv) confirm the corrected position in writing within 15 days.
Enclosed: commissioning certificate · net metering agreement · bills for [period] · inverter generation log · dated meter photographs.
[Name, address, consumer number, phone, email, date]
Send it by email and on the DISCOM portal. Keep the acknowledgement
If Solnce installed your system, this is our problem before it is yours — bring it to us and we will pursue the DISCOM on your behalf. Under PM Surya Ghar every registered vendor owes five years of comprehensive maintenance from commissioning, and liaising on a metering error sits inside that.
If someone else installed it, ask them the same. If they will not act, the ladder above works regardless — and we will look at your bill and generation data and tell you which of the five errors you have, at no charge.
[Send us your bill and generation data →]
General information about electricity regulation and consumer remedies. Not legal advice. Procedures differ by state; verify with your DISCOM or a qualified adviser.
1. Why is my electricity bill the same after installing solar?
Five common causes: export units not being read into the billing system; provisional or estimated billing instead of an actual reading; net metering not activated in the DISCOM’s billing master; a faulty or wrongly configured net meter; or carry-forward credits not applied. Identify which one you have before escalating — the remedy differs.
2. How long does the DISCOM have to fix a billing complaint?
Rule 15 of the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020 caps grievance redressal at a maximum of 45 days. In Maharashtra, internal redressal of a billing complaint is 15 working days, and the CGRF must decide billing matters within 60 working days.
3. What is CGRF and how do I file a complaint?
The Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum, established by every distribution licensee under Section 42(5) of the Electricity Act, 2003. Filing is free. You can file in person, by post, by email or through your DISCOM’s web portal, in the prescribed format, within two years of the cause of action.
4. Does it cost anything to complain to CGRF or the Ombudsman?
No. Filing before the CGRF and before the Electricity Ombudsman is free of charge in both Gujarat and Maharashtra. Do not pay anyone who tells you otherwise.
5. Can I demand that my net meter be tested?
Yes. Rule 5(7) requires the DISCOM to test the meter within 30 days of your complaint that readings are not commensurate with your consumption, and Rule 5(8) says no test fee is charged at the time of reporting. You are entitled to be present and to receive a signed copy of the test report.
6. What if I don’t accept the DISCOM’s meter test result?
Rule 5(11) entitles you to have the meter tested at a third-party facility you select from the Commission-approved list. If the third-party result contradicts the DISCOM’s, the DISCOM bears the cost. If it matches, you do. The result is final and binding on both parties.
7. Can I refuse to pay an estimated bill?
In defined circumstances, yes. Rule 6(9) permits no more than two provisional bills in a financial year. If provisional billing continues beyond two cycles absent force majeure, you may refuse to pay until an actual-reading bill is raised. Put your refusal in writing, citing the rule.
8. Is the DISCOM liable to compensate me for delay?
Rule 11(12) provides that where a licensee delays without just cause in a prosumer context, it is liable to compensate at not less than ₹500 per day of default. Automatic compensation applies only to remotely-monitorable parameters; for billing complaints you must claim it through the DISCOM’s online facility, and the amount is set by your state regulator.
9. Has MNRE done anything about incorrect solar billing?
MNRE acknowledged in late July 2026 that it has received several complaints about incorrect DISCOM billing after rooftop solar installation, and said such complaints are being referred to state DISCOMs and utilities. It did not announce new guidelines or create a central grievance channel. The remedy remains DISCOM → CGRF → Ombudsman.
10. Can I take my DISCOM to consumer court over a billing error?
Yes, if you plead it correctly. The Supreme Court held in U.P. Power Corporation Ltd. v. Anis Ahmad (2013) that consumer forums can hear electricity matters pleaded as deficiency in service, unfair trade practice, or excess charging — but not challenges to Section 126 assessments or Sections 135–140 offences. Plead deficiency in service expressly.
11. Which consumer commission do I file in, and what does it cost?
The District Commission handles claims where the consideration paid is up to ₹50 lakh, which covers essentially every residential rooftop dispute. Filing is free where the consideration is up to ₹5 lakh. File online at e-jagriti.gov.in or edaakhil.nic.in. Limitation is two years.
12. Should I go to CGRF or consumer court first?
CGRF first. It is free, faster and specialist. Keep the consumer commission in reserve — and note it is often the better forum for a dispute with your installer rather than your DISCOM.
13. My export register isn’t moving but the inverter shows generation. What does that mean?
Either the meter is faulty or wrongly configured, or the system is not actually exporting because generation is being fully self-consumed. Check your inverter log against your daytime load before assuming a fault — then request meter testing under Rule 5(7).
14. My installer says it’s the DISCOM’s problem. Is it?
Under the PM Surya Ghar model agreement, net meter supply, testing and approvals are in the vendor’s scope, and the vendor owes five years of comprehensive maintenance from commissioning. Liaising with the DISCOM on a metering or billing error falls within that. Ask them in writing.
15. How far back can I claim a correction?
Limitation before both CGRF and the consumer commission is two years from the cause of action. Do not let a dispute drift — the clock runs from when the wrong bill was issued, not from when you noticed.
16. What documents will I need?
Commissioning certificate, net metering agreement, all bills since commissioning, monthly inverter generation logs, dated photographs of the net meter showing both registers, and a written record of every complaint with ticket numbers. Build this file before you escalate.
17. My surplus units from earlier months have disappeared. Is that legal?
It depends on your state’s settlement period. In Tamil Nadu, unadjusted net metering surplus lapses on 31 March — that is the rule. Maharashtra settles annually April–March and purchases unadjusted credits. Punjab and Madhya Pradesh settle October–September. Check your state before complaining.
Understand the key differences between Net Metering, Net Billing, and Gross Metering, and learn how each mechanism impacts rooftop solar savings, exports, tariffs, and system sizing across India.
Our solar expert is one call away. They will understand your need and help you choose the best quality products at the most affordable rates.
