Overview
- The regulator has finalized a paper titled 'Review of Transaction Fee charged by the Power Exchanges' and will seek stakeholder feedback before any decision.
- Options under study include a fixed fee of 1.5 paise per unit for most segments and 1.25 paise for term-ahead contracts, compared with the current 2 paise cap that exchanges largely charge.
- Market coupling, approved in July 2025, is slated to start with the day-ahead market in January 2026 to produce a single market-clearing price across exchanges.
- Indian Energy Exchange accounts for about 90% of exchange volumes, while PXIL and HPX comprise the remainder, and all three will rotate as Market Coupling Operators with Grid-India as backup and audit operator.
- Officials and experts say fee design will be pivotal as price competition recedes, with potential buyer benefits from price convergence and efficiency, though deliberations remain at an early stage.