IEX Market Coupling Case: APTEL says next hearing to take place on January 6, 2026

The Electricity Appellate Tribunal (APTEL), on Friday, November 28, stated that the next hearing for the market coupling case, will take place on January 6, 2026. Shares of The Indian Energy Exchange Ltd., are volatile after the hearing.

"We are concerned about the allegations made across the bar and wish to inquire further, since these allegations if found to be true would cast a cloud on the manner in which an independent regulator functions," the APTEL order stated, adding that it is not expressing any opinion in this regard and that it emphasizes a need to undertake an early hearing, well before the regulations are notified.

APTEL was hearing IEX's plea against the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) implementation of the market coupling norms.

APTEL also observed that it is open to look into any case of corruption and that the regulator should avoid any appearance of wrongdoing.

During the hearing, IEX cited the market regulator's report claiming that CERC officials had indulged in insider trading and made illegal gains of ₹173 crore, to the Electricity Appellate Tribunal (APTEL).

IEX said the market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has connected this conspiracy to the trading in the former's shares.

The coupling order, which caused the IEX shares to plummet 29% in a single session, was part of the insider trading conspiracy by CERC officials, IEX told APTEL.

It said the coupling order is tainted. SEBI has also named the author of the coupling order, IEX added.

Here's a timeline of the events since the CERC approved the market coupling norms on July 23:

Timeline 

July: The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) approved the implementation of the market coupling norms, with the Day Ahead Market (DAM), in accordance with the Power Market Regulations of 2021. The order triggered a sharp sell-off in IEX shares, which declined nearly 30% in a single session in trade.

August: IEX challenges the CERC's order that called for a stage-gated implementation of market coupling on the country's electricity trading platforms.

October 13:

The Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) directed IEX to file an amended plea in the ongoing market coupling case, adding more parties as respondents -- the Grid Corporation of India, which was responsible for pilot studies and test run for market coupling and Power Exchange of India and Hindustan Power Exchange, which are IEX's competition.

The Tribunal had told IEX to file the revised plea within a week and the new parties were told to do the same before the October 30 hearing.

October 30:  The APTEL deferred the hearing of the company's plea challenging the CERC directions for market coupling. In its statement, APTEL noted that IEX is the biggest power exchange and it claims that its market share would be impacted. Members of the tribunal recused from hearing IEX's plea against the CERC order. The next hearing was likely set for November 28.

What does IEX plea state

IEX is seeking the setting aside of the CERC order on market coupling, and till the case is decided, it is seeking a stay on the order.

The IEX petition claims that the CERC order is arbitrary, and violates the principles of natural justice. It also claims that the coupling order would only lead to the loss of market share, without any conceivable benefits.

The IEX petition also added that the CERC order disrupts regulatory framework which has evolved over the 17 years.

CERC norms and why they are negative for IEX

In July, CERC approved the implementation of the market coupling norms, with the day ahead market (DAM), in accordance with the Power Market Regulations of 2021.

Under the first phase of the norms, coupling of the DAM will be implemented by January 2026, under which, different power exchanges would act as market coupling operators (MCOs) on a round-robin basis.

An MCO collects all buy and sell orders from all power exchanges, which is then aggregated and matched to discover a uniform market clearing price, across all exchanges regardless of platform.

The CERC staff would also initiate stakeholder consultation for DAM coupling and propose the required regulatory amendments.

Grid India would serve as the fourth MCO for backup and audit purposes. It would also develop a software for term-ahead market coupling, run a three-month shadow pilot for the same, and submit feedback after the process is completed.

For the real-time market, coupling would be considered at a later stage after the DAM experience as it requires further regulatory and operational examination.

The decision to implement market coupling against the report submitted by Grid India is a negative development for IEX as this means it would lose its business moat of being the "best platform" for price discovery.

Also, the introduction of market coupling could meaningfully shift volumes to competitive exchanges. At present, IEX has a market share of nearly 85% in the spot market.

IEX shares were trading 0.2% lower at ₹₹140.9 apiece as the hearing continued. The stock is down over 20% in the last six months.

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