Net Meter Approval Time in India 2026: DISCOM Timelines

You applied for net metering. Weeks have passed. The portal still shows the same status line. That is the most common rooftop solar complaint in India, and it does have a real answer.

The answer is not a single number. It is a map. A net metering application moves through roughly ten stages. Each one sits with a different party: you, your installer, the distribution company, its meter section, and sometimes the electrical inspector. From the outside, a delay at stage four looks exactly like a delay at stage eight. The fix is completely different.

This guide does three things. It walks the full journey, from the first portal submission to the first settled bill. It lists the statutory clocks that actually exist, so you can tell a slow file from a stuck one. And it shows where applications genuinely stall, which causes you control, and how to escalate with a regulatory reference rather than a phone call.

Every timeline below is tied to a named regulation with its issuing body and year, and was checked as of October 2026. Net metering rules differ by state and by DISCOM, and practice differs from the written rule. Treat these numbers as the frame, then check the current text for your own state.

Short version. Net meter approval time in India has no fixed national duration. Central rules give the DISCOM 15 days for technical feasibility on systems above 10 kW, with deemed approval after that. The remaining stages, meaning installation, inspection, meter fitting, and commissioning, run under state regulations, and the written clocks differ by state. Track your file stage by stage, not as one number.

Why there is no single national answer

Net metering is not centrally administered. Each State Electricity Regulatory Commission frames its own regulations under the Electricity Act, 2003. The Ministry of Power sets a consumer-rights floor. The operative procedure, capacity caps, transformer loading limits, and meter responsibilities are written by your state commission and executed by your DISCOM.

That is why two neighbours in different states, with identical 5 kW systems, see very different waiting times for the same paperwork. A national average is close to useless for your file.

The ten stages of a net metering application

Most state frameworks follow the same underlying sequence, even when names and order differ. Knowing which stage you are in is the entire diagnostic.

1. Application submission. You or your installer file on the state portal or the national PM Surya Ghar portal. Save the reference number.
2. Technical feasibility study. The DISCOM checks transformer headroom, feeder loading, and connection details.
3. Sanctioned load check. Most regulations cap capacity at or below your sanctioned load or contract demand.
4. Approval letter or registration. The DISCOM conveys permission to install, often with a validity window.
5. Installation. Your installer erects the array and commissions the inverter to the approved specification.
6. Completion report submission. Test records, model and serial details, and the installation certificate are uploaded.
7. Inspection. A DISCOM engineer, and in some states the Chief Electrical Inspectorate, inspects and tests the installation.
8. Meter testing and installation. The bidirectional meter is tested, sealed, and fitted.
9. Commissioning certificate and agreement. The certificate is issued and the interconnection agreement is executed.
10. First settled bill. Your next cycle reflects imported and exported units under the applicable mechanism.

Stages 1 to 4 are pre-approval. Stages 5 to 7 are yours and your installer’s to drive. Stages 8 to 10 sit with the utility.

A stage-by-stage timeline with the clocks that exist

This table lists only clocks that appear in a named rule, with the rule cited. Where no uniform clock exists it says so, because an invented “typical” number would mislead you. All entries were checked as of October 2026, and states revise their regulations, so confirm the current consolidated text.

What the regulations actually promise

Central and state rules promise process, not outcome. No regulation commits a DISCOM to a total end-to-end duration for your connection. They commit to bounded windows for individual steps, plus consequences when a window lapses.

The key central provision is Rule 11 of the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, notified by the Ministry of Power at the end of December 2020. It makes net metering available for loads up to 10 kW, with the details left to state regulations. The Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendment Rules, notified on 22 February 2024 and announced by PIB on 23 February 2024, revised the rooftop solar provisions in several ways:

• Systems up to 10 kW no longer need a technical feasibility study.
• For systems above 10 kW the feasibility window fell from 20 days to 15 days, and the proposal is treated as approved if the DISCOM does not respond in time.
• The DISCOM’s commissioning period for rooftop solar fell from 30 days to 15 days.
• The distribution company must strengthen the distribution system, at its own cost, for rooftop systems up to 5 kW.

MNRE’s PM Surya Ghar guidelines say the same about feasibility (clause 6(h)): applications up to 10 kW are deemed accepted without a feasibility approval under the Rights of Consumers Rules, and until a state commission or DISCOM operationalises that, the consumer uploads the documents the state still requires. That last clause explains why some DISCOM portals still ask for feasibility on a small system.

Source: PIB release, 23 February 2024; MNRE guidelines for PM Surya Ghar CFA to residential consumers. Checked as of October 2026.

Worked example: what the written clocks add up to

This is arithmetic on published windows, not a forecast for your file. It shows the floor a well-run application can reach under one state’s text, and why real elapsed time usually differs.

Add one 15-day deficiency cure or a waiting spell for meter stock and the same file moves out by weeks without any rule being broken. That gap between the written floor and the lived experience is where most complaints sit. We have not published an “average days” figure because no source we could verify measures it.

Where delays genuinely happen

Feasibility is rarely the true bottleneck any more, especially since the 10 kW exemption. The delays cluster in five places, and four of them are invisible from the consumer portal.

Meter stock. Bidirectional meters are procured in batches. A division waiting on stock holds dozens of files at once, with no status change visible to any of them.

Inspector availability. Inspection is a physical site visit by a limited pool of officers. Application surges after a scheme announcement create queues that no regulation shortens.

Feasibility backlog. Where a study is still required, a division handling a spike will breach the 15-day window in practice, even with deemed approval on paper.

Transformer capacity. The MERC (Grid Interactive Rooftop Renewable Energy Generating Systems) Regulations, 2019 restrict capacity to the sanctioned load and to 70% of transformer capacity, allocated transformer-wise on a first come, first served basis. A full transformer is a hard stop, not a queue.

Documentation gaps. Model number mismatches, capacity above sanctioned load, missing test reports, and unsigned agreements. This is the largest avoidable category, and it sits entirely on your side of the line.

What you control and what you do not

Here is the uncomfortable part. Most consumers escalate against the DISCOM while the actual blocker sits with their own installer or their own paperwork. The table below separates the two honestly.

You control document completeness, equipment matching the approved proposal, sanctioned load adequacy, installer responsiveness, and the quality of your escalation record. You do not control meter stock, inspector rosters, transformer headroom, or divisional workload. Spend your energy on the first list. Equipment matching starts earlier than most buyers expect, and checking the inverter model against your own DISCOM is the step that prevents a rejection at inspection.

Documents to keep ready at each stage

Build one folder before you apply, and keep it current. Applications stall on retrieval time far more often than on eligibility. Rules on mandatory documents vary by state and DISCOM.

Keep a dated log alongside the folder. Record every submission, clarification request, and response. That log turns a complaint into a case.

Net metering, gross metering, and net billing settle differently

The three mechanisms share most procedural stages. They differ sharply in how exported units are valued, and that difference is worth more than a few weeks of waiting.

Under net metering, exports are netted against imports and you are billed on the difference. Under gross metering, all generation is sold to the utility at a defined rate while you buy all consumption at the retail tariff. Net billing sits between them, crediting exports at a rate usually below retail.

The difference is ₹2,000 for that month on identical hardware. Rates and rules are state-specific, so substitute your own tariff order values. Our gross metering versus net metering comparison works through the mechanics, and the net metering guide covers eligibility.

State variation: three named frameworks

The following are illustrative, not exhaustive. Each has been amended, so always read the current consolidated text on the commission’s own website.

Maharashtra. The MERC (Grid Interactive Rooftop Renewable Energy Generating Systems) Regulations, 2019, whose text we checked directly. Clocks are in working days: 3 to acknowledge, 15 for feasibility, 7 to convey approval, 10 to test and commission, and 10 more to fit the net meter and synchronise. Approval is valid for 6 months. The cumulative capacity connected to a distribution transformer or feeder is capped at 70% of its rated capacity, unless the licensee allows more after a detailed load study. System capacity cannot exceed the sanctioned load or contract demand.

Delhi. Press coverage dated 28 July 2026 reports that DERC revised its net metering rules on 16 July 2026, replacing a three-stage approval with a two-stage process, setting a 15-day feasibility deadline with deemed approval, and removing the feasibility study and registration fees for domestic systems up to 10 kW. We could not open the gazetted text, so treat this as a secondary-source summary and check derc.gov.in before relying on a detail.

Uttar Pradesh. The UPERC Rooftop Solar PV Grid Interactive Systems (Gross/Net Metering) Regulations, 2019 were notified on 4 January 2019 and amended in 2022 to add net billing, according to trade reporting. Maximum peak capacity is capped at 100% of the sanctioned load, connected load or contract demand. We did not find a verified agreement-signing deadline, so do not quote one.

How to escalate a stuck application

Escalate in order, and escalate on paper. A phone call leaves no record, and a record is the only thing that moves a stalled file.

1. Fix your side first. Confirm the completion report was filed against the correct reference, and that installed equipment matches the approval exactly.
2. Raise a ticketed complaint. Use the DISCOM’s grievance channel. Quote the application number, attach a dated event log, and save the acknowledgement.
3. Cite the applicable window. If the 15-day feasibility window under the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendment Rules, 2024 has lapsed, invoke the deemed feasibility provision by name.
4. Approach the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum. Every distribution licensee must maintain one under Section 42(5) of the Electricity Act, 2003. Its procedure and time limit come from your state commission’s forum and ombudsman regulations, so read those for your state.
5. Represent to the Electricity Ombudsman. Section 42(6) of the Electricity Act, 2003 allows this where the Forum has not redressed the grievance. The Ombudsman is designated by your State Commission.

The Bottom Line

Net meter approval time in India is a sequence, not a number. Central rules now give you a 15-day feasibility clock with deemed approval, and a full exemption below 10 kW. Everything after that runs on your state commission’s regulations. The real delays concentrate in meter stock, inspector scheduling, and your own documentation.

Diagnose the stage before you escalate. Most files that look blocked by the utility are waiting on a completion report, a model number, or a sanctioned load that was never raised. Fix the controllable half first, then escalate the rest with a regulation cited by name.

• Identify your exact stage today. Match your portal status to the ten stages above, then confirm what the next party actually needs from you. The application walkthrough and the PM Surya Ghar status check guide cover the portal mechanics.
• Audit your document set against the approval. Model numbers, serial numbers, and capacity must match exactly. Use an empanelled vendor and size the array against sanctioned load with our string sizing calculator.
• Get your inverter documentation in order before inspection. Download the specification sheets for your on-grid inverter, and contact Qbits for datasheets and model confirmation on a Qbits unit. Application status and the official timetable remain with your portal and DISCOM.