Rooftop Solar Net-Meter Installation Delayed? DISCOM Approval Action Plan

Who this guide is for

This guide is for homeowners, housing societies, and small commercial consumers in India who have installed a rooftop solar system and are now waiting on the net-meter installation and DISCOM (distribution company) approval. It is useful if:

• Your solar panels and inverter are installed, but the net meter has not been fitted weeks or months later.
• Your DISCOM technical feasibility or inspection step is "pending" on the portal with no movement.
• Your vendor filed the application, gave you an application ID, and then went quiet.
• You applied for the national rooftop solar subsidy and now worry the meter delay will cost you the benefit.
• Your DISCOM portal shows the application but you cannot tell which desk is sitting on it.

Net-metering rules, timelines, fees, and the exact division of work between you, the vendor, and the DISCOM are set by your state electricity regulatory commission and your DISCOM. They vary widely across states. So this guide gives you a method that works everywhere, and tells you where to read the specific rule that applies to you. It does not quote a single national deadline, because there is none.

If your worry is the subsidy money itself rather than the meter, read the companion guide on rooftop solar subsidy not credited or application rejected.

What you can do this weekend

Friday evening

Find your application ID. It is on the acknowledgement your vendor or the portal generated when the net-metering or rooftop-solar application was submitted. Check your email, SMS inbox, and any WhatsApp thread with the vendor. Without the application ID you cannot track or escalate, so make this your first task.

Log in to your DISCOM's online portal or the state solar portal and open your application status. Note the exact stage shown: application received, technical feasibility, inspection scheduled, inspection done, net-meter installation pending, or commissioned. Take a dated screenshot of that status. This single screenshot tells you who to chase.

Pull out your vendor invoice and the work-completion report. Note the date the physical installation was finished. The gap between that date and today is the delay you will be complaining about.

Saturday

Write down, in one place, the timeline: date you signed with the vendor, date of application, date of any DISCOM inspection, and today. A clear timeline is the backbone of every escalation you will send.

Call your vendor and ask three direct questions. Who is the next stage pending with — the vendor, the DISCOM, or the metering agency? What is the exact reason for the hold? What is the next action and date? Follow the call with an email repeating the same questions, so you have it in writing.

Read your state's net-metering regulations or your DISCOM's solar page to find the published timeline for feasibility, inspection, and meter installation. Match each step against your own dates. Wherever your case has crossed the published time, that is a concrete point you can raise.

Photograph the installed system — panels, inverter, and the meter board — with the date visible. Visual proof that the installation is complete and only the DISCOM meter is missing strengthens your complaint.

Sunday

Draft your grievance using the template later in this guide. Keep it factual: application ID, dates, the stage that is stuck, and a clear request to install the net meter and approve the connection.

Identify your DISCOM's grievance channel and its nodal officer for rooftop solar or net metering. Most DISCOMs publish a nodal officer and a consumer grievance email on their website. Note the email and any online complaint link.

If a national subsidy is involved, log in to the official national rooftop solar portal and confirm the current status of your subsidy claim and what condition is blocking it. Usually the subsidy waits on the net meter, so keep that record ready for Monday.

Documents and evidence checklist

Step-by-step action plan

Step 1 — Confirm whose stage is actually pending

The single most useful thing you can do is identify the exact stuck stage. A rooftop-solar application typically moves through: application submitted, technical feasibility / sanction, physical installation by the vendor, DISCOM inspection, net-meter installation, and commissioning. Open your portal status and find the last completed stage. The next stage is where the delay sits. If the vendor's installation is done but inspection is "pending," the DISCOM is the bottleneck. If inspection is done but the meter is not fitted, the metering agency or DISCOM stores stage is the bottleneck.

Step 2 — Pin down the application ID and your timeline

Write your application ID at the top of a single page. Below it, list each date: vendor agreement, application submission, feasibility approval, inspection, and today. This is the timeline you will attach to every complaint. It converts a vague "my solar is stuck" into a specific, dated grievance that an officer cannot brush aside.

Step 3 — Read the rule that applies to you

Net-metering timelines are fixed by your state electricity regulatory commission, not by a national law. Find your state's net-metering regulations or your DISCOM's rooftop-solar page and note the published number of working days allowed for feasibility, inspection, and meter installation. Where your case has crossed that time, you have a clean point to raise. Do not guess the number — read it from the official source, because it differs by state and is revised from time to time.

Step 4 — Put your vendor on written notice

If your vendor was empanelled under a government scheme, the vendor has obligations too. Email the vendor asking for the application ID, the current pending stage, the reason, and the next action with a date. Ask the vendor to coordinate with the DISCOM for inspection or meter installation. Keep this email — if the vendor went silent and you paid for a service that was not completed, it becomes evidence in a later consumer complaint.

Step 5 — File a grievance with the DISCOM

Use your DISCOM's online complaint system or consumer grievance email. State your application ID, consumer account number, the stuck stage, the dates, and a clear request: complete the inspection and install the net meter, and approve the connection. Attach your status screenshot, invoice, completion report, and photos. Save the complaint or ticket number.

Step 6 — Escalate to the DISCOM nodal officer

If the first complaint gets no movement, escalate to the rooftop-solar or net-metering nodal officer published on your DISCOM website. Reference your earlier ticket number and the dates. Ask specifically for the meter installation date and the reason for delay in writing. A named officer with a referenced ticket is far harder to ignore.

Step 7 — Protect your subsidy in parallel

If you applied for the national rooftop solar subsidy, log in to the official national portal and confirm what condition is blocking your claim. In most cases the subsidy is released after the net meter is installed and the system is commissioned and verified. Keep your application ID, vendor invoice, and inspection record together so that the moment the meter is in, the subsidy claim can move. If the portal shows the claim at risk of lapsing, raise that explicitly in your DISCOM grievance.

Step 8 — Approach the regulator's consumer grievance forum

If the DISCOM still does not act, every state has a Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF) for electricity consumers, and above it an Electricity Ombudsman. These are the proper forums for a DISCOM service failure. Find your forum through your state electricity regulatory commission's website. File your dated timeline and all evidence. This is also the stage where, if your DISCOM is government-owned, an RTI on the file status (see below) gives you ammunition.

Escalation ladder

Copy-paste complaint template

Replace the text in square brackets with your own details before sending.

When RTI can help

The Right to Information Act, 2005 applies to public authorities. Most state electricity distribution companies are government-owned or substantially state-controlled, which generally makes them public authorities. If your DISCOM is one of these, RTI is a powerful way to break a silent delay. Useful requests include:

• Where the file is stuck: "The current status and file movement (with dates and the names/designations of officers handling it) of net-metering Application ID [your ID] for Consumer Account [your account number], and the reason recorded for any delay."
• Inspection and meter records: "A copy of the technical feasibility report, inspection report, and net-meter work order, if any, relating to Application ID [your ID], and the date the net meter is scheduled to be installed."
• Pending applications and timelines: "The prescribed timeline for net-meter installation under the applicable regulations, and the number of net-metering applications pending beyond that timeline in [your division]."

An RTI often does what reminders cannot: it forces an officer to put the real status and the reason for delay on the record. To file, see our step-by-step RTI filing guide. The CPIO must respond within 30 days. If you get no reply or an evasive one, use the first appeal under RTI Section 19. For the full appeal sequence, read the first and second appeal guide, and The RTI Playbook covers using RTI in utility and infrastructure disputes.

When RTI will not help

RTI has clear limits in a net-meter delay:

• RTI cannot install your meter: RTI gives information, not action. Only the DISCOM can install the net meter and approve the connection. Use RTI to support your grievance and CGRF complaint, not to replace them.
• Fully private DISCOMs and vendors: If your distribution licensee is a wholly private company, RTI may not apply directly to it, and it never applies to your private solar vendor. There, the right routes are the DISCOM's own grievance system, the state regulator's CGRF and Ombudsman, and a consumer complaint against the vendor.
• Speed: The 30-day RTI window is slower than a DISCOM grievance or a nodal-officer escalation for simply getting the meter moving. Use those first; use RTI when you need recorded facts or have hit a wall.

For a comparable government-portal escalation pattern, see our guide on using CPGRAMS and RTI together.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Not knowing your application ID: Without it you cannot track or escalate anything. Find it on day one and keep it at the top of every letter.
• Chasing the wrong party: Pushing the vendor when the DISCOM inspection is the bottleneck wastes weeks. Identify the exact stuck stage first, then direct your complaint there.
• Following up only by phone: Phone calls leave no record. Always confirm in email or a portal ticket so you build a dated trail that a forum can read.
• Energising the system before approval: Switching on a grid-connected solar system before the DISCOM approves it can breach your connection conditions and create safety risk. Wait for approval, and ask in writing what is permitted in your state.
• Losing the vendor invoice and completion report: These prove you paid and that the installation is finished. They are central to both the subsidy claim and any consumer complaint. Store digital copies.
• Forgetting the subsidy clock: The subsidy is usually tied to the net meter. If you only chase the meter and ignore the subsidy portal, you may discover the claim condition lapsed. Track both in parallel.
• Quoting a deadline you did not verify: Timelines vary by state and change over time. Read the actual figure from your state regulator or DISCOM page before you cite it in a complaint.
• Skipping the regulator's forum: If the DISCOM stonewalls, the CGRF and Electricity Ombudsman exist precisely for service failures. Many consumers give up before reaching the forum that can actually order action.

If your underlying problem is a wrong or inflated bill rather than the meter approval itself, see our guide on a wrong or inflated electricity meter reading. For a new connection or meter at a fresh premises, the method in our new water connection and meter application guide follows the same escalation logic for a different utility.