HERC will not proceed with the parallel licence; EEFI warns against listing and an Agri DISCOM

The Electricity Employees’ Federation of India welcomes the order of 28 October 2026 of the Haryana Electricity Regulatory Commission in Petition No. 30 of 2026. The Commission has recorded the directions issued by the Government of Haryana on 26 October 2026 under Section 108 of the Electricity Act, 2003, Memo No. 2/21/2023-1E. It has decided not to proceed further with the parallel distribution licence granted to Eleven Power Private Limited, for so long as those directions remain operative. It has also rejected the company’s request for a hearing.

Eleven Power had accepted the licence, with its terms, by a communication of 21 October 2026. On 23 October it wrote that it was taking steps to implement the licence, and it asked for advance notice and a hearing on anything placed before the Commission concerning the order of 19 October or the licence. The Commission held that a written direction under Section 108(1) is a matter of policy involving public interest, and that under Section 108(2) the state government’s decision on that point is final. No adjudicatory exercise is left, and no dispute is pending in which the company’s rights are to be determined afresh. The order is signed by Mukesh Garg, Officiating Chairman, and Shiv Kumar, Member. The government’s direction is annexed. It tells the Commission not to create, operationalise or effectuate a parallel distribution licence anywhere in Haryana. It is dated 26 October 2026 and records the approval of the Chief Minister.

This is the formal culmination of the victory won by the 48-hour statewide strike of more than 40,000 employees and engineers under the Haryana Electricity Employees and Engineers Joint Struggle Front, and by the solidarity of farmers’ organisations, other trade unions and ordinary consumers. EEFI had insisted that the state government use Section 108, and had demanded a clear policy against parallel licensing. The employees and the people forced the government to act. The Chief Minister announced that a parallel licence will not be allowed in Haryana. The Commission has now given effect to that policy. EEFI salutes the struggle that made this possible.

The order does not, by itself, cancel the grant of 19 October. It stops further steps while the Section 108 direction remains operative. Vigilance has to continue so that the direction is not withdrawn and the licence is not put into effect.

At the same time, EEFI draws attention to a D.O. of 19 October 2026 from Pankaj Agarwal, Secretary in the Ministry of Power, to Anurag Rastogi, Chief Secretary of Haryana. The number is 12/07/2022-UR&SI-II-Part(2). It refers to a D.O. of the Minister of Power dated 15 May 2026, which asked Haryana to expedite the listing of the state distribution companies, and to the conference of Power Ministers on 12 November 2024. It says that UHBVNL, DHBVNL, HPGCL and HVPNL are eligible for listing. It notes that the separate DISCOM for agricultural consumers is yet to be fully operationalised, and that the appointment of a consultant by HPGCL and HVPNL for the listing process has been pending. It asks the Chief Secretary to intervene so that the approvals are completed, and so that each utility sends an activity-wise roadmap.

Listing of public power utilities, and a separate Agri DISCOM, fragment the integrated public sector and open the door to privatisation. The same forces that sought a parallel private licensee are now pressing these measures from the Centre.

Discussions between the Government of Haryana and the Joint Struggle Front are scheduled on 3 November 2026. EEFI calls on the state government to take a clear stand in those discussions. It must announce that no step will be taken towards listing the state power utilities, or towards operationalising a separate Agri DISCOM in a manner that weakens the public sector. The state government must not give way to this pressure from the Centre.

EEFI again salutes every employee, engineer, farmer and citizen who took part in the struggle. Vigilance is required until the written Section 108 direction is fully protected and no fresh privatisation move is allowed to advance. Long live the unity of electricity employees. Defend public electricity. No to the listing of power utilities.