Nagpur: Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) has clarified that nearly 99 per cent of electricity consumers in the state are not required to pay the Grid Support Charge imposed on rooftop solar power users, dismissing claims being circulated by certain interest groups as “misleading and incorrect.”
In a press release issued on May 13, MSEDCL stated that the state has a total of 3.17 crore electricity consumers, of which only 44,246 consumers — less than 0.14 per cent — are currently liable to pay the Grid Support Charge.
The charge has been implemented following directions issued by the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC). According to the order, the surcharge applies only to consumers with a sanctioned load above 10 kilowatts who have installed rooftop solar power generation systems.
MSEDCL said Maharashtra has around 2.37 crore domestic consumers, of which 6.57 lakh have installed rooftop solar systems. However, only 16,410 domestic consumers — about 2.49 per cent of solar users and merely 0.07 per cent of total domestic consumers — are affected by the charge.
Among industrial consumers, only 8,894 out of 4.45 lakh consumers have been brought under the Grid Support Charge, while 12,832 out of 23.30 lakh commercial consumers are liable to pay it.
The power utility further explained that MERC had first approved the concept of Grid Support Charge in 2019, directing that it would be imposed once the state’s rooftop solar generation capacity crossed 2,000 MW. In 2023, the threshold was increased to 5,000 MW. After Maharashtra crossed the 5,000 MW mark earlier this year, MERC finalised the charge in its electricity tariff order dated March 25, 2026.
MSEDCL also highlighted the financial benefits being received by rooftop solar consumers through net metering. According to the utility, nearly 4.90 lakh consumers earned benefits worth Rs 129.57 crore over the past year by supplying surplus electricity to the grid. Of this, 4.72 lakh domestic consumers alone received benefits amounting to Rs 124.55 crore.
