Consumers' Page

Present Coal Scenario:

Total coal production achieved by CIL was 51.7 million tonnes in November 2020 a growth of 3.3% compared to 50 million tonnes lifted in November 2019. For the period of April 2020- November 2020, the national miner has produced 334.5 million tonnes, registering a growth of 1.2% over 330.4 million tonnes produced in the same period last year. CIL’s Total offtake for November stood at 51.3 million tonnes. The offtake has grown by 8% compared to November 2019. Total offtake for the period of April 2020 to November 2020 was 357.2 MT.

Submissions made by both Power and NRS consumers:

1. Submission by both Power and NRS consumers for keeping the reserve price of coal same as notified price under various e-Auctions:

Currently a number of CIL Subsidiaries are keeping the floor price at 10% higher than the notified price in most of the cases against the various E-auctions being conducted for both Power and Non-power sectors. However, due to economic downturn due to the pandemic, Utilities and Industries are not in a condition to have such a higher percentage of add-ons on notified price. Request has been made to CIL to extend

the facility of conducting Spot, Special Forward and Exclusive e-Auctions at respective notified prices till the end of current Financial Year.

2. Submission regarding issue of ungraded coal supplied to Power and NRS consumers:

*Power sector have stated that in spite of the provision in their FSAs, refunds for supply of ungraded coal are still pending from different Subsidiaries even after two years or more in some cases.

Request has been made to CIL by the Power sector so that the pending refunds on account of ungraded coal may be processed at the earliest. In case of Formulation of a new policy in this regard, it may be expedited as the fund is stuck for a long time.

*The NRS consumers are unable to get long pending refunds through credit notes even when the quality of coal supplied is lower than the G-17 grade because unlike the Power sector there is no provision for issuing credit notes in case of supply of ungraded coal in the FSAs for NRS consumers.

Request has been made to CIL to expedite the formulation of a suitable policy in line with the Power sector so that the NRS consumers can get their requisite refund in case of supply of ungraded coal.

3. Request for amendment in over loading & under loading clause of FSA and e-Auctions:

The responsibility of coal loading in rakes is with the Subsidiaries Coal Companies and the consumers do not have any control over quantity of coal being loaded in the rakes. However, various additional charges are levied on consumers from both Power and Non-power sector by the Indian Railways due to over loading of rakes i.e. punitive charges for load adjustment/detention, engine haulage charges etc. In case of under-loading, the full amount is not refunded, because according to FSA provision, coal companies give under loading charges limited to the difference of CC / stencil capacity and actual weight of coal loaded in the wagon. But the Railway charges freight as per permissible carrying capacity (PCC ) / chargeable weight and in most cases PCC / chargeable weight is more than the stencil carrying capacity. Request has been made to CIL for amendment of the above-mentioned clause so that the sellers bear the penalty on overloading charges and consumers pay only the cost of excess coal quantity over the chargeable weight supplied by the Subsidiaries.

Submissions made by Power Sector Consumers:

4. Request for providing suitable date to the Power Sector consumers for signing of addendum for enhancement of ACQ upto 100 percent:

SECL has recommended enhancement of ACQ upto 100% of the normative quantity from 90% previously which has been consented for by the consumers from Power sector.

Request has been made to SECL regarding provide a suitable date for signing of addendum pertaining to enhancement of ACQ upto 100% of the normative requirement and issue a notice regarding the need to submit additional documents if any by the consumers. .

5. Significant variation between billed grades and received grades of coal in certain mines of ECL:

The issue of grade slippage from various mines of ECL has been longstanding and rampant which has been impacting the operations of both Power and NRS consumers procuring coal from the Subsidiary. In spite of promise made by ECL authorities regarding significant improvement in the quality of coal supplied from various

ECL sidings from September 2020 onwards, it has been noticed that quality of coal received by Power sector consumers from Salanpur and Bankola sidings of ECL has further deteriorated in September’20 compared to the previous five months of FY 2020-21.

Request has been made to CIL and ECL to immediately minimise the instances of grade slippage and ensure supply of declared grades of coal from ECL.

Issues related to Railways:

Submissions made by Nonpower Sector Consumers:

6. Submission regarding invoking of general Force Majeure allowing cancellation of rakes by NRS consumers during COVID period:

Following the pandemic outbreak and subsequent decline demand by the Power sector, long-pending rakes even from the previous financial year was allotted to the NRS consumers in large numbers during by certain Subsidiaries like WCL and MCL which created havoc in these plants..

7. Submission by NRS consumers to SECL regarding supply of inferior grade of coal from tertiary sources:

NRS consumers procuring coal from SECL’s Mahan II colliery (primary source) were not able to lift the allotted G-12 grade of coal due to its unavailability. Hence, they were initially offered coal from Chhal as the secondary source. As the designated coal was not available there as well, the consumers were then allotted Balrampur OC as the tertiary source with a reduction of FSA grade from G-12 to G-13. However, the coal received from Balarampur OC was below the promised grade and not suitable for their requirements.

Request has been made to SECL so that contracted grade of coal can be supplied either from the primary source or from the tertiary sources.

8. Request for issuance of E-invoice with IRN note QR codes for all zonal Railways:

In spite of the notice issued by Ministry of Finance regarding issuance of E-invoice with IRN note QR code for the registered person under GST invoice having turnover of above 500 Cr.PA, several coal consumers informed that they are still not receiving RRs having IRN and QR code within stipulated time frame from the zonal Railways.

Request has been made to the Railway Board to advise all zonal railways to comply with the requirement of E-invoices as per GOI guidelines. In case any special exemption is allowed to Indian Railways in this regard, suitable notification may be issued by the Railway Board.

9. Request to consider Actual Tare Weight instead of Stenciled Tare Weight for Weighment of Rakes:

The coal consumers are facing the issue of continuous shortages of coal which is mostly driven by the disparity between Stenciled and Actual Tare Weight which results in cumulative financial losses to many organisations getting supply of coal through older rakes. Request has been made to the Railways consider the Actual Tare weighment of the rake upon entry into the Siding instead of subscribing to the Stenciled Tare Weight for preparation of RR.