Consumers' Page

Submission by both Power and NRS Consumers:

1. Submission for providing relief through linear method of calculation of compensation against short-lifting by WCL, NCL & CCL for FY 2019-20:

As per CIL notification, linear percentage will be applicable uniformly for all coal companies for calculation of compensation from 01.04.2020. However, the calculation of compensation for short-lifting till 2019-20 shall be done as per existing practices followed by the Subsidiaries. While CIL Subsidiaries such as BCCL, ECL, SECL and MCL are following linear method, different methods are followed by other Subsidiaries such as WCL, NCL and CCL which leads to huge differences in the amount of compensation charged by different Subsidiaries for the same amount of short lifting. Request has been made to CIL so that the subsidiaries may charge compensation for shortlifting in the linear method for the FY 2019-20. The consumers, who have ended up paying higher amount of compensation under different calculation methodologies, should be refunded the additional amount paid by them by the respective Subsidiaries at least till FY 2019-20.

2. Submission requesting roll-back of WCL mines from Specific mines category to General mines category:

Price of coal in the specific mines category has already been increased by WCL back in November 2019. Recently, WCL has included 5 more mines under mines specific sources which have abruptly increased the price of coal from these mines. It is unviable for them to procure coal from the said collieries. Request has been made to WCL to revoke the above mentioned notification so that these collieries may operate under general mines catego-

ry and consumers may continue procuring the allotted quantity of coal from these mines at the same price as before.

3. Submission regarding issues of Grade Slippage, short-receipt and overloading of coal from various sidings of ECL:

Both Power and NRS consumers have repeatedly raised the issues of Grade Slippage, Shortreceipt and overloading of coal from Salanpur, Jhanjra and Sonepur Bazari area of ECL. The recurrent issues over coal quality impacts functioning of Utilities and Industries and increases the overall cost of operations. Request has been made to CIL and ECL to reduce the instances of grade slippage, shortreceipt and over-loading from the above mentioned ECL sidings. ECL has informed that all necessary actions are being taken at the Head Quarter Level to resolve those concerns and all area offices of ECL have been advised to ensure proper quality and size of coal be made available in the stockyard/sidings. The calibration and stamping of Railway weigh bridge of POCP Siding, Jhanjra Area will be done by this month.

4. Submission to Railways for not including ancillary charges for direct debit through e-payments:

As per a recent Railway notification, consumers have to sign a supplementary tripartite agreement for Inclusion of Wagon Registration Fee (WRF) and other ancillary charges such as Siding Charge, Shunting Charge, Demurrage Charge, Wharfage Charge, Re-booking Charge, Diversion Fee, Freight Under Charges to debit directly through E-Payment facility. However, automatic deduction of these charges by Railways even before reconciliation of bills may impact freight payment of bills. The responsibility of coal loading in rakes is with the Subsidiaries in which consumers do not have any control. Therefore, demurrage charges should not be levied upon consumers. Also, in many places, ancillary charges are paid by the port handling agents to the Zonal Railways. Hence, deduction of ancillary charges under e-freight will be an additional financial and operational burden. Request has been made to Railway Board and Zonal Railways to continue with the current practice of accepting these charges through DDs/Cheques/RTGS and not to debit the ancillary charges directly from consumers’ accounts through e-payments.

Submission by Power Sector Consumers:

5. Submission by Power Sector regarding expediting supply of pending rakes from MCL’s Talcher Coalfields and SECL’s Korba area:

Certain Power consumers procuring coal from MCL’s Talcher and SECL’s Korba have complained regarding the issue of pending rakes even after paying full coal value to the Subsidiary. A large number of rakes allotted to these Power houses since January’21 have been pending while the coal stock at many of their plants may have dropped to critical levels. Request has been made to MCL and East Coast Railway to expedite supply of pending rakes to the Power utilities from Talcher area at the earliest in order to meet the daily coal requirements of the power houses. Submission has been given to SECL and South East Central Railway (SECR) for expediting supply of rakes from Korba area as well.

6. Submission regarding significant shortages in rakes loaded from SECL’s Dipka siding:

Power houses procuring coal from SECL have raised concern over considerable amount of shortages received in linkage coal rakes loaded from Dipka siding during March'21, where the shortage ranges from 5% to more than 8% in

some of the rakes dispatched from the siding. SECL has been requested to corrective measures to arrest the shortages and arrange for recalibration of the weighbridges to eradicate the problem.

Submission by Non-power Sector Consumers:

7. Submission regarding discontinuation of supply under expired FSAs:

As per CIL’s notification, coal supplied to NRS consumers at notified price as per the MoU signed between them and the Subsidiary coal companies even after expiration of their erstwhile FSAs of pre linkage-auction regime is to be discontinued after 31st March 2021. This would stop the supply of coal till the next Tranche is held and the cost of coal under Exclusive auction will significantly increase as the auction floor price is 10-20% higher than the notified price. Also, there is uncertainty over the commencement of 5th Tranche of auction. Request has been made to MoC and CIL to continue supply of coal at notified price as per the MoU signed between these consumers till the next Tranche of auction is held. Also, the reserve price of coal is requested to be kept the same as notified price in the coming auctions.

8. Submission regarding allowing change of mode of supply from Road to Rail by SECL:

A number of CIL Subsidiaries have immediately ex- tended the facility for allowing the dispensation of change of mode of supply from Road to Rail under FSA through NRS linkage auction route to the NRS consumers since November'20. However, in spite of repeated requests made by the NRS consumers no notification has been issued by SECL in this regard. Many SECL consumers have been penalised for short-lifting as they were not able to procure coal by Road Mode during the nationwide lockdown period. Hence, submission has been made to SECL to allow the change of mode from Road to Rail at the earliest.

9. Request for not imposing penalty for short-lifting from Wani Siding for NRS FSA consumers:

A number of NRS consumers procuring coal from WCL are not able to lift allotted quantity from the Subsidiary’s Wani sidings as a) The offered G13 grade of coal is not suitable for direct feed to the boilers and needs to be blended with high grade imported coal making it unviable for the plant. b) In order to lift 75% of ACQ from Wani siding as per the FSA clause, the consumers need to lift a huge number of rakes within less than 2 months which may not be feasible due to shortage in storage capacity. c) The coal price structure of Neeljay OCM, the newly introduced feeding source of Wani siding, is yet to be sent to the consumers. Request has been to WCL for not penalizing the consumers for short-lifting as contracted grade of was coal was not available from Wani sidings during most of the FY2020-21.