The Ministry of Power's 2024 EV charging guidelines treat the electricity tariff at a community charger as a pass-through and set a ceiling, in clause 10(1), on any service charge added on top. For slow AC charging it is "₹3.00 per unit" from 9 AM to 4 PM and "₹4.00 per unit" from 4 PM to 9 AM, excluding GST and land cost, until 31 March 2028. It is a maximum, not a rate to charge, in guidelines addressed to governments. Where your society bills members through a single-point connection, a statutory rule requires bills for individual consumption to be no-profit-no-loss, which may leave no room for a service charge. This is not legal or tax advice.
The ceiling, in the guidelines' own words
The Ministry of Power issued the Guidelines for Installation and Operation of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure-2024 on 17 September 2024 (No. 12/2/2018-EV), addressed to Union ministries and state Chief Secretaries (beeindia.gov.in; last verified 15 October 2026). Clause 8 says "The total fee charged by Charge Point Operators from customers shall comprise" the electricity tariff, "which will be considered as pass through", a "Service charge as per Clause 10.0", land cost "as per registered land deed" and "GST as applicable".
Clause 10(1) sets a "ceiling limit for service charges (excluding GST & land cost)" until 31 March 2028 at "PCS & Community EV Charging Stations". Its table reads, for AC (Slow), "₹3.00 per unit" in solar hours and "₹4.00 per unit" in non-solar hours; for DC (Fast), "₹11.00 per unit" and "₹13.00 per unit". Clause 16(7) adds: "GHS will determine the charging fees for community charging based on the applicable electricity tariff and service ceiling limits laid down under these guidelines." GHS means a group housing society.
Is your society's charger a "community charging station"?
Clause 4(e) defines one as a "semi-public charging station installed at Group Housing Societies or other residential accommodations where only residents or authorized visitors can get their EV charged." Opened to anyone without restriction, it fits clause 4(p)'s Public Charging Station instead, which the ceiling also covers. A Charge Point Operator, under clause 4(c), is "any individual/entity operating the EV Charging Station", which on its wording takes in your society if it runs the point, or a company it lets run it. Then check two things:
- Metering. Clause 9(3): "Each EV charging station must have separate metering arrangements to accurately record consumption and apply the appropriate tariff." A charger on the common-area supply may not be on an EV tariff (meter options).
- Connection. Its own DISCOM connection, or the society's single-point connection? See the last section: it may matter most.
Any new meter or connection touches the society's supply and sanctioned load, and must be specified and certified by a licensed electrician.
Building the per-unit rate, component by component
Take the electricity part as the landed cost per unit from the bill feeding the charger (our billing guide shows how). Clause 9 describes the tariff for supply to EV charging stations: not above the "Average Cost of Supply" until 31 March 2028, with the DISCOM charging "0.7 times" that in solar hours and "1.3 times" outside them. Do not assume your society pays that: your bill shows the category you are actually on.
| Component (clause 8) | Where your figure comes from | Limit in the 2024 guidelines | Worked-example assumption (substitute your own) |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) Electricity, passed through | Your bill: total rupees ÷ units | None on passing it through; clause 9 addresses the DISCOM's EV-station tariff | Suppose ₹9.00 a unit |
| (b) Service charge | A minuted general body decision | Clause 10(1), AC: "₹3.00 per unit" 9 AM to 4 PM, "₹4.00 per unit" 4 PM to 9 AM | Suppose ₹2.50 a unit, all day |
| (c) Land cost | "as per registered land deed" | Pass-through only | Suppose nil |
| (d) GST | "as applicable"; ask your chartered accountant | Not set | Left out |
| (e) Your blended ceiling | Your session log, split by time band | Solar-hours share × ₹3.00 + other share × ₹4.00 | Suppose 15% in solar hours: ₹3.85 (worked below) |
On those assumptions: ₹9.00 + ₹2.50 = ₹11.50 a unit before GST.
The ceiling for the hours your residents actually charge
The ceiling applies per time band: a unit drawn at 11 AM carries the daytime figure, one drawn at 10 PM the night figure. If your billing cannot split units by hour, as a monthly sub-meter reading cannot, only a flat AC service charge at or below the daytime figure stays within the ceiling on every unit. Suppose a flat ₹3.50: it sits under the night ceiling but over the daytime one.
If your charger logs session times, row (e) gives a blended ceiling: the most your AC service charge can average over a month billed band by band. Suppose 90 of 600 units were drawn between 9 AM and 4 PM; substitute your own. 90 ÷ 600 = 0.15, and 0.15 × ₹3.00 + 0.85 × ₹4.00 = ₹3.85 a unit.
Checking the rate on your own statement
For a resident who suspects overcharging:
- Ask for the parts. Clause 10(3) says stations "will prominently display" the rate per unit and the applicable service charges.
- Find your price per unit. Suppose your statement shows 120 units for ₹1,500 before GST; substitute your own. ₹1,500 ÷ 120 = ₹12.50.
- Remove the electricity. Suppose the society's bill works out to ₹9.00 a unit; ask the treasurer for the real figure. ₹12.50 − ₹9.00 = ₹3.50 of service charge per unit.
- Compare by band. If every unit was drawn between 4 PM and 9 AM, ₹3.50 is within the night ceiling. If 30 were drawn at midday, 30 × (₹3.50 − ₹3.00) = ₹15 sat above it that month.
- Raise it in writing through the billing-dispute route. A gap is a reason to ask, not proof: a land-cost line or bill charges you missed may sit inside it.
What the ceiling means for repaying the charger
The ceiling caps the margin per unit, and billing, servicing, insurance and a replacement reserve come out of it before anything repays the hardware. If those costs per unit match or exceed the service charge you set, the charger never repays its capital; the committee should say so before the vote. Feed your capped service charge into the operator-deal break-even and the reserve-fund projection, with capital as one figure from your written quote (budgeting a charging station). If the plan only works above the ceiling, the proposal should say so.
What the ceiling does not settle
Whether it binds your society directly is unsettled. Clause 2 makes the guidelines "applicable to" owners and operators in places including "Group Housing Societies", but they are addressed to governments; the text contains no penalty aimed at a society, and we have not verified adoption by any state. Treat the ceiling as published guidance, not an entitlement to the maximum (what is actually settled).
A statutory rule may matter more. Rule 4(14) of the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, inserted by G.S.R. 125(E), which the Ministry of Power notified on 22 February 2024 (egazette.gov.in; last verified 15 October 2026), covers an "Association" of "all the property owners" in a housing society or similar body (rule 2(1)(mc)). On a single-point connection, rule 4(14)(d) says its bills "for individual electricity consumption shall be on no-profit-no-loss basis" and "the total billing done by Association for the electricity supplied by the distribution licensee shall not exceed the overall tariff paid to the distribution licensee". The only addition it provides for is "an additional amount as prescribed by the Appropriate Commission" towards sub-distribution network cost.
So a service charge on a charger fed and billed through a single-point connection may conflict with that rule. Rule 4(14)(b) does not say whether a community charger's units are individual or common-area consumption. Rule 4(15) obliges the DISCOM to give an association or owner who asks "a separate connection for supply of electricity for Electric Vehicle charging system"; whether a charger on one, or separately metered under clause 9(3), falls outside rule 4(14)(d), neither document settles. Get your DISCOM's and your advocate's views in writing first.
We found no amendment to clauses 8, 9, 10 or 16 as of 15 October 2026.
GST is "as applicable" (clause 8). The Finance Ministry's Circular No. 206/18/2023-GST of 31 October 2023, para 3.3, says an RWA charging "the same amount for electricity" as its DISCOM charges it will be "deemed to be acting as pure agent" (gstcouncil.gov.in; last verified 15 October 2026). On its wording that does not cover a service charge; whether the electricity line beside one still qualifies is for your chartered accountant.
Common questions
Is ₹3 or ₹4 per unit a fixed rate the society must charge, or a maximum?
A maximum. Clause 10(1) calls the figures a "ceiling limit", and clause 16(7) leaves the society to "determine the charging fees". A general body can set a lower service charge or none, and on a single-point connection rule 4(14)(d) may leave no room for one.
Does the ceiling apply when an operator runs our society's charger and bills residents directly?
On the guidelines' wording, yes: an operator running the point fits clause 4(c)'s Charge Point Operator, and clause 10(1) covers community stations without distinguishing who runs them. Whether that binds the operator is as unsettled as for a society. Ask for its price split into tariff and service charge, as clause 10(3) expects; the deal itself is in the operator deal check.
Does the electricity cost come on top of the service charge?
Yes. Clause 8 makes the tariff a separate component "which will be considered as pass through", and the clause 10(1) ceiling applies to the service charge alone.
Does the ceiling apply to a resident's private charger on their own meter?
Not on its wording: clause 10(1) covers "PCS & Community EV Charging Stations", and a private point in your own slot is neither. Clause 15(4) says "Domestic electricity rates will apply to charging EVs at home", so on your own meter you pay your DISCOM's tariff. Where the society bills your sub-meter through a single-point connection, rule 4(14)(d) may apply instead. Run your figures with the monthly cost method.
How long do these ceilings last, and can they change?
Clause 10(1) applies them until 31 March 2028, and its note makes them "subject to annual review". Clause 10(4) says a committee under the Central Electricity Authority "will recommend service charges from time to time". We found no revision as of 15 October 2026; recheck before your society fixes a rate, and minute a review date.