It’s official: Occupancy certificate not needed for power supply in Karnataka

In a major reform that will benefit five lakh households in Bengaluru alone, the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) has done away with the requirement of an occupancy certificate (OC) for power supply.

The KERC has notified the Conditions of Supply of Electricity of Distribution Licensees in the State of Karnataka (Tenth Amendment), 2022.

Going forward, residential buildings, businesses, educational institutions, hospitals and other commercial establishments can get power supply without having to produce an OC.

The ruling BJP is expected to milk this ahead of the Bengaluru civic body polls that are due.

“We have amended a Congress-time rule that caused harassment to commercial and domestic power users in the Bengaluru municipal limits,” Energy Minister V Sunil Kumar said. “There are five lakh families in the BBMP limits that experienced darkness because OCs were compulsory for power supply. Our government’s mission is to provide light for all,” he said.

The minister said he was at a loss to understand why the previous Congress government introduced the OC-must rule. Kumar said the OC-must rule was ordered when Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar was the energy minister. “This goes against the fundamental aspiration of the electricity law,” the minister said.

Municipalities and urban development authorities issue OC to declare a building fit to be used. The lack of an OC usually means the building flouts laws.

Several lawmakers from Bengaluru had petitioned Kumar to get the rules changed. Even industry bodies such as the Karnataka Small Scale Industries Association had sought this reform while state-run electricity supply companies (Escoms) kept arguing that they need not ask for OCs as it was not their job.

Kumar took it up with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and the government wrote to the KERC. The regulator had kept the draft on public domain to receive suggestions and objections. The final notification was published in the official gazette on Friday evening.