Haryana power employees’ strike called off: What is Section 108 of Electricity Act invoked by CM Nayab Saini? Explained

Haryana’s electricity employees called a three-day strike after HERC licensed Eleven Power Pvt Ltd to distribute electricity in Gurugram and Nuh alongside state-owned distributors. The protest affected electricity supply, water services and industrial activity. The government’s intervention helped end the immediate disruption.

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said Haryana used Section 108 of the Electricity Act, 2003, to ask HERC to reconsider its order. The provision lets a state issue written policy directions to its electricity regulator on matters involving public interest. The government also agreed to support the employees’ case.

After receiving that assurance, union representatives agreed to return to work immediately. Saini repeated the state’s opposition to privatising electricity distribution. The government had also said it would represent the employees before the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity. HERC must consider the direction while performing its statutory functions, but Section 108 does not allow unlimited control over every regulatory or tariff decision.

Section 108 is a provision in the Electricity Act, 2003, dealing with state policy and electricity regulation. It matters because it creates a formal channel for an elected state government to communicate public-interest policy directions to its State Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Under Section 108(1), the commission must be guided by written directions on policy matters involving public interest. In Haryana, the government used this provision to ask HERC to reconsider its order allowing Eleven Power Pvt Ltd to distribute electricity in Gurugram and Nuh. The direction concerns a contested electricity-distribution decision.

Section 108(2) says the state government’s decision is final if a question arises about whether a direction concerns policy involving public interest. However, the provision does not give the government unrestricted power to dictate every regulatory or tariff decision. HERC still performs its statutory functions, while taking relevant policy directions into consideration.

The strike involved around 40,000 electricity employees, making it a large statewide protest rather than a small workplace dispute. Their action followed HERC’s decision to license a private company to distribute electricity in Gurugram and Nuh alongside existing state-owned distributors.

The disruption spread beyond electricity itself. The article reports interruptions to water services and industrial activity in several parts of Haryana, including Gurugram and Chandigarh. Residents in some areas also blocked roads while protesting power outages. These effects show how closely electricity supply is connected to other public services and daily economic activity.

The Haryana Bijli Karamchari and Engineers Joint Sangharsh Morcha had called a three-day strike. Employees ended it after the state government assured them of support and said it would challenge or seek reconsideration of the private-distribution decision. They agreed to return to work immediately, reducing the immediate service disruption.

Section 108 allows a state government to influence the policy framework followed by its State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Its purpose is to ensure that public-interest policy concerns are considered during electricity regulation, while leaving the commission with statutory responsibilities.

For Haryana, the government can send HERC written directions on issues such as public-interest measures for consumers, renewable energy and wider electricity-sector policy. In the current dispute, it used Section 108 to ask HERC to reconsider the order granting Eleven Power Pvt Ltd a distribution licence in Gurugram and Nuh.

HERC must be guided by such written directions when carrying out its legal functions. If there is a dispute about whether a direction concerns policy involving public interest, Section 108(2) makes the state government’s decision final. Still, the article stresses that this is not unlimited authority over every regulatory or tariff matter.

If Eleven Power Pvt Ltd begins distributing electricity alongside the state-owned companies, consumers in Gurugram and Nuh would have another distributor operating in those areas. The article focuses on the possible public-interest consequences of that change, especially for affordability and access.

The employees’ union opposes the private distributor’s entry. It argues that electricity could become unaffordable for farmers and economically weaker people in both rural and urban areas. The concern is linked to the possibility that a private company’s distribution arrangements could affect what consumers pay or how services are delivered.

The article does not establish that prices will rise. Haryana has opposed electricity-distribution privatisation and asked HERC to reconsider its licence order under Section 108. HERC is expected to consider the state’s policy direction while performing its statutory duties. The final effect on consumers therefore remains unresolved in the article.

Generating electricity means producing it at power plants or other generating facilities. Transmission means carrying large amounts of electricity across high-voltage networks from generating sources toward regions and cities. Distribution is the local network stage that delivers electricity to individual consumers, including homes, farms, shops and factories.

The Haryana dispute concerns distribution, not the basic production of electricity. HERC granted Eleven Power Pvt Ltd a licence to distribute power in Gurugram and Nuh alongside the existing state-owned distribution companies. That means the company would operate in the part of the system that connects electricity supply with consumers in those areas.

These stages work together, but they are distinct activities. Generation creates the power, transmission moves it over long distances, and distribution supplies local users. This explanation uses standard electricity-sector definitions; the article itself focuses on the distribution licence and does not describe specific generating or transmission facilities in Haryana.

Independent electricity regulators exist to make formal decisions under statutory duties while considering public interest. They provide a separate regulatory process for issues such as licences, consumer measures and sector policy. This matters when governments oppose a company’s entry or employees challenge a major electricity decision.

In Haryana, HERC granted Eleven Power Pvt Ltd a licence to distribute electricity in Gurugram and Nuh alongside state-owned distributors. The state then used Section 108 to ask HERC to reconsider. The arrangement shows the different roles: HERC makes regulatory decisions, while the government can issue written policy directions on public-interest matters.

This balance is not absolute independence from government policy. Section 108 requires HERC to be guided by written state directions, while also preserving its statutory functions. The article specifically says the provision does not let the state dictate every regulatory or tariff decision. This explanation of regulatory design uses established sector knowledge beyond the article’s specific facts.