Scope

The CEA (Installation and Operation of Meters) Regulations 2006, made under the Electricity Act 2003, govern the installation, operation, accuracy, and testing of electricity meters in India — including bidirectional/net meters for grid-connected solar prosumers.

Relevance to solar net metering

• DISCOMs must install a bidirectional meter at each net-metered solar connection
• The meter must register both import and export energy separately
• Meter accuracy class: 0.5S or 1.0 for net-metered prosumers
• DISCOMs must test and certify meters against BIS IS 16444 standards

2023 Amendment

The 2023 amendment introduced requirements for time-of-day (ToD) metering for consumers above 10 kW demand, enabling DISCOMs to implement time-differentiated net-metering tariffs.

DISCOM obligations

DISCOMs must install the net meter at their own cost for systems below 10 kW (per PM Suryaghar guidelines) within 30 days of application approval.