The Assam Electricity Duty (Amendment) Act, 1964

> *■ The 29th December 1964 No .LJL .ll /64/2 3.—Th e following Act of the Assam Legislative Assembly which rece ived the assen t of th e Preside nt is he reby pub lished for gen era l info rma tion . (R eceive d the as se nt o f t he P re sid en t on th e 23rd Dec em be r, 1964) ASSAM ACT No .X XX OF 1964 T ll E ASSAM EL EC TR IC IT Y DU TY AC Tj 1964 [Published in the Assam Gazette Ex traord ina ry, da ted the 30 th Dece mber, 1964] Hn Act io levy a duty on the sale or consumption of electricity Preamble. Wherea s it is expedien t to j levy a duty on the sale or consum ption of electrical energy in the State of Assam ; It is hereby enac ted in the Fifteen th Yea r o f the Republ ic of I nd ia as follows :— Short title ( 0 T'his ^ c t r a a y c a ^ ec ̂ Assam extent and Elec tricity Duty Act, 1964. commence* ment. I €V (2) It extends to the whole of the Sta te of Assam. (3) It shall come into force on such date as the Sta te Gov ernment may , by noti ficat ion in the official Gazette , appoint . Definitions . 2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise require s— (a) “ Board” means the Assam State Elec trici ty 54 Board cons tituted under Ch apter I I I of the Elec tricity (Supp ly) Act, 1948. (Z>) “ Con sum er” m eans a person, oth er tha n a licensee, who is supp lied with energy— («) by a licensee ; or («) by the Board ; (c) “energy” means electrical energy ; ,(?/} “l icensee” means any person licensed under Central Act Part II of the Ind ian Electricity Act , 1910, 9 of 1910 to supply energy and includes any person who has obtaine d the sanction in th at behal f of the Sta te Governme nt under section 28 o f the said Act ; (e) “ prescr ibed ” means prescribed by rules mad e under this Act ; ( / ) “ un it” , in relatio n to the energy, means kilowat t-ho ur; and (g) words a nd expressions not defined in this Cen tral Act bu t defined in the India n Elec trici ty o t Act , 1910, h ave th e meaning assigned to ’ the m in th at A ct. , f 3. (1) There shall be levied and pa id to the State Ek ctr ici ty Governm ent a du ty, to be called the “e lectr icity Duty . du ty” , at the ra te of two naye paise pe r un it of energy— (a) suppl ied by the Board to a consumer or a licensee ; or (J) supp lied by a licensee gen era ting energy to a consum er ; or 3 -* < r (c) genera ted by a person for his own use or consumption . (2) Nothin g in sub-section (1) shall app ly to the con sum ption or sale of energy which is— (a) consumed by or sold to the Governme nt of India for con sum ptio n by th at Govern­ ment ; or (Z>) consumed in the construction, mainte nan ce or opera tion of an y railway by the G overn­ ment of India or a railway com pany ope­ rat ing th at railway , or sold to that Governmen t or any such railway company for consumption in the con stru ctio n, ma intena nce or op erat ion of any railway . (3) For the purpose of comput ing the elec tric ity duty unde r this sect ion, the consum ption shown by the meters sta rtin g aft er the first me ter reading da te afte r the com mencement of thi s Act shal l be taken into acc oun t and consum ption in a mo nth shall form th e basis of ca lcu lation. Co llection 4. The electrici ty duty shal l be collecte d and and paym ent pa jd to the Sta te Governme nt by the Board or a o fe le c tr ic it y p c e n s e e o r a person who generate s energy for his own y ' use or consumption as the case may be. Lic ensee 5. No licensee sha ll, wi tho ut the previous sanc- no t to reim- t iOn of the Sta te Government and subje ct to such sel fSe from " c o n d it io n s as the Sta te Gov ernment may impose, co nsum erm recov er from any peison to whom energy is sold, wi tho ut sane- the duty which falls to be paid by the licensee und er tionof State t hi s Act. Government . Explanation.—Where the Sta te Gov ernment permits a licensee to cha rge du ty lro m the consumer , the du ty sha ll not be deemed to be pa rt of the price charg ed for the energy by the licensee. R . , 6. (1) If the Sta te Governme nt so direc ts by a ret urn s.3 general or special orde r, the Board or a licensee or a person generat ing energy for his own use or con ­ sum ption shal l ma intain such record and in such, form and ma nner as may be prescribed showing— (a) the unit s of ene rgy gen erated or received by it or h im for supply to the consumer ; , (i ) the units of energy supp lied to the consu mer or consumed by it or him ; o 4 •» (c) the a mo unt of the duty payable there on and the du ty pa id or recovered by him under this A c t; and (d) such other par ticu lars as may be pres­ cribed. (2) Th e Board, the licensee, or the person genera ting energy for his own use or consumption who has been dire cted under sub-section (1) to main tai n a reco rd shall submit such return s, in such form and manne r and to such au tho rity as may be prescribed. (3) The am ount of energy shall, for purposes of clauses (a) and (Z>) of sub-section (1), be ascerta ined in such manne r as may be prescribed. Inspectin g . 7. (1) Th e Sta te Governmen t may, by notifica- o®cers. |i o n jn o gjc ;a i G aze tte, app oin t inspecting officers to inspect rec ords ma int ain ed under section 6. (2) The inspecting officers shall perfo rm such duties and exercise such powers as may be prescribed for the purpo se of carrying into effect the provisions of this A ct an d the rules mad e thereu nder. (3) Every inspecting officer app oin ted under this section shall be deemed to be a public servant, Act XLV of within the meaning of section 21 o f the India n Pen al 18 6°- Code , 1860. d U ’d *n t l̂ e °P’n *o n a n autho rity pres­ to certain c r >hed in this beh alf, the Board, the licensee o r the caaei, person gene rating energy for his own use or consump­ tio n evad es, or attempts to evade the pay ment of du ty whether by maintain ing false records, submit ting false return s, conceal ing the energy suppli ed or by any other means, th e Board, the licensee or such person, as th e case m ay be, shall pay by way of pen alty , in add itio n to the duty payable under this Act , a sum not exceeding four times the am ount of the d uty to be determ ined by the prescribed auth ority : Provided th at no act ion under this sub-section shall be take n witho ut affording a reaso nable oppor­ tuni ty of being hea rd to the Board, the licensee or such person. (2) An app eal sha ll lie against an order passed under sub-section (1) to such authority , with in such period and on pay ment oTsucfff lees' as may be preg.- cribed. 3 Recovery of duty. 5 (3) An ord er passed on appea l under sub-section (2) shal l be final. (4) An orde r for the pay ment of any pena lty ma de under this section shall be witho ut prejudice to any prosecution ins titu ted for an offence under diis Act. 9. Any duty due under thi s Act or penalty im ­ posed under section 8 which remains unp aid , whether by a consumer to the Board or by tire Board or a licensee or a person generat ing energy for his own use or consumption , to the S tate Government , shal l be recoverable as an arr ear of land revenue or by ded ucti on from amounts payable by the State Gov ernment to the Board or the licensee or such person. Power to 10. Where a consu mer or a licensee fails to pay discon ce rt the electricity duty to the Board or a consumer fails suPPb ̂ m en tt o Pa Y s u c ^ duty to a licensee who is authorised to of^uiy™ recover the duty from the consumers under section 5, the Board or the licensee mav exercise the power conferred on a licensee by sub-section (1) of section Central 24 o f the Ind ian Electric ity Act, 1910, fo r th e recove ry Act 9 of of a ny charge or sum due in respect of energy sup- 1910- nlied by it or him Penaltie s. H . Jf any person— (a) req uir ed by section 6 to keep reco rd or to submit retu rns fails to keep or submit the same in the prescribed form or manne r o r submits a ret urn which is false, or (fc) intentionally obstructs an inspecting officei app oin ted under section 7 in the exercise ©f his powers and dut ies unde r this Act and the rules mad e thereunde r, or (c) cont ravenes any such rule , he shal l be liab le, on conviction before a Ma gis tra te, to a fine not exceeding one thousa nd rupees. Power to 12. The Sta te Gov ernment may in pub lic inte rest , exempt- by notification in the official Gazett e, exem pt any licensee, consumer or p erson from the payment of the . whole or par t of th e electr icity duty for such period and subject to such terms and cond ition s as may be specified in such notification. powe r to 13. (1) Th e Sta te Governm ent may, by notifica- aaake rules, bon in the official Gaz ette , make rules for the purp ose of car ryin g into effect the provisions of this Act- * / (2) In parti cular , and withou t pre jud ice to the general ity of the foregoing power, such rules may pro­ vide for— (c) the ma nner of calculatin g the duty (includ­ ing marginal adju stm ent ) under section 3 ; (&) the manner o f collection and paymen t to the State Governm ent of th e e lectrici ty duty by the Board, licensees and persons genera ting energy for t hei r own use or consumption ; (e) the time and ma nner of pay ment of the electr icity duty by consumers ; (d) the powers and duties to be exercised and performed by inspecting officers ; (e) any ot he r mat ter for which provision is, in the opinion of the Sta te Governm ent, neces­ sary for giving effect to the provisions of this Act. (3) Every rule mad e under this section shall be laid, as soon as m ay be after it is made, before the Assam Legislat ive Assembly while it is in session for a total period of four teen days which may be com­ prised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of th e session in which it is so laid or the session imm edia tely follow ing, the Assam Legis lative Assembly agree in mak ing any modification in the rule or the Assam Legislative Assembly agree th at the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereaf ter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be ; so, however, th at any such modification or ann ulm ent shall be without prejudice to the valid ity of anything previously done under that rule. P. G. DAS, Jt. Secy, to the Govt, o f Assam, Law D epi t,