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Informist, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity Friday rejected Indian Energy Exchange Ltd.'s plea against the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission's order to implement market coupling for the day-ahead market and amend the regulations accordingly. The appellate tribunal said it was satisfied that the commission's proceedings would fall within the ambit of the expression "order" in section 111(1) of the Electricity Act, 2003, but held that Indian Energy is not "a person aggrieved" by the power regulator's order and so is not entitled to any relief.

 

To protect the petitioner's rights, the appellate tribunal said its verdict will not prevent the company challenging the power regulator's order in the appropriate legal forum after the latter has drawn up the regulations. It also directed the commission to ensure that till the proceedings initiated by it and the Securities and Exchange Board of India against the former's officers who allegedly indulged in insider trading are concluded, those officers are kept away from the regulation-making exercise.

 

The appellate tribunal noted that when it reserved its verdict in the matter on Feb. 5, the commission had not even issued the draft regulations for market coupling in the day-ahead market. Since Indian Energy is carrying on its operations under the Electricity Act, any grievance would arise only if and when regulations are made by the commission to implement market coupling in the day-ahead market, it said. "In any event, on such regulations being made, the forum for challenging its validity is not before this tribunal as this tribunal has been held not to have the power of judicial review either under Section 111 or under Section 121 of the Electricity Act," it added.

 

Indian Energy had sought withdrawal of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission's July 2025 order on day-ahead market coupling. The order was to be implemented only after necessary regulations were made.

 

According to the order, from January, the Grid Controller Of India was to aggregate energy prices across all power trading platforms and publish a single price. This process was called day-ahead market coupling. Indian Energy dominates the electricity trading market with an overall share of about 85% and near-total presence in key segments such as the day-ahead market and real-time market. Since bids are placed independently on separate energy exchanges, price discovery across the platforms differs. With market coupling, a single market-clearing price will be used on all exchanges, erasing benefits for traders on the largest energy exchange platform.  

 

Indian Energy had argued that the commission's order was arbitrary and violates principles of natural justice. It claimed that the coupling order would only lead to loss of market share without any conceivable benefit.

 

In October, SEBI had said officials at the electricity regulatory commission had traded in IEX derivatives and shares ahead of the market coupling decision that was likely to affect the company. The power regulator argued that SEBI's interim order against its officers did not contain any material allegation against its processes or prove mala fides in the issuance of the market coupling order.

 

Friday, shares of Indian Energy Exchange ended 1.6% lower at INR 123.95 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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