What is net billing?
Under net billing, you use your solar first, and only the surplus exported is credited at a set rate. Also called net feed-in, net-billing.
- Plain English
- Official sources
- Bill terms A–Z
Net billing on your bill
Net billing values imported and exported units at different rates.
You pay the normal tariff on imported units. The discom credits exported units at a feed-in rate.
Example: 300 imported units x Rs 6 = Rs 1,800. 200 exported units x Rs 3 = Rs 600 credit. Net bill Rs 1,200.
Central rules allow net billing or net feed-in for loads above the net-metering limit.
Use more of your solar output during the day. Each self-used unit saves the full tariff.
Rooftop solar rules by state
| State or UT | Surplus units | Size limit for a home |
|---|---|---|
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | Surplus carried to the year end | JERC caps a home's net-metered system at its sanctioned load or contract demand. |
| Andhra Pradesh | Surplus paid or credited each bill | APERC caps net metering at the contracted load, with a 500 kW limit. Single-phase homes with up to 5 kW connected load can install up to 5 kW. |
| Arunachal Pradesh | Surplus carried to the year end | APSERC caps a system at the sanctioned load or contract demand; net metering is allowed from 1 kW to 500 kW. |
| Assam | Surplus carried to the year end | AERC limits an LT system to 100% of the connected load or contract demand. APDCL gives net metering for loads up to 10 kW and gross metering above 10 kW. |
| Bihar | Surplus carried to the year end | BERC caps a rooftop system at the sanctioned or contracted load (minimum 1 kWp). |
| Chandigarh | Surplus carried to the year end | JERC caps the system at the sanctioned load (or contract demand), and net metering at 500 kWp. |
| Chhattisgarh | Surplus carried to the year end | CSERC caps a net-metered system at the sanctioned load or contract demand, up to 500 kW. |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu | Surplus carried to the year end | JERC caps a home's net-metered system at its sanctioned load or contract demand. |
| Delhi | Surplus carried to the year end | DERC lets a home install more than its sanctioned load if it pays the service line (SLD) charges for the difference. |
| Goa | Surplus carried to the year end | JERC caps a home's net-metered system at its sanctioned load or contract demand. |
| Gujarat | Surplus paid or credited each bill | — |
| Haryana | Surplus carried to the year end | HERC caps a home's system at its connected or sanctioned load (and net metering at 500 kW). |
| Himachal Pradesh | Surplus carried to the year end | In Himachal Pradesh a home with sanctioned load up to 10 kW can install up to 10 kW (the load is deemed raised). Above 10 kW load, the limit is 50% of the load or 10 kW, whichever is higher. |
| Jharkhand | Surplus carried to the year end | JSERC lets a home install rooftop solar irrespective of its sanctioned load (other consumers up to 100% of it). |
| Karnataka | Surplus paid or credited each bill | KERC allows net metering up to the sanctioned load. |
| Lakshadweep | Surplus carried to the year end | JERC caps a home's net-metered system at its sanctioned load or contract demand. |
| Madhya Pradesh | Surplus carried to the year end | MPERC caps a net-metered system at the sanctioned load or contract demand. |
| Maharashtra | Surplus carried to the year end | MERC caps a rooftop system at the sanctioned load. |
| Manipur | Surplus carried to the year end | MnERC allows a home net metering from 1 kW up to the sanctioned load or contract demand, and never above 500 kW. Systems above 10 kW need a hybrid inverter and battery. |
| Meghalaya | Surplus carried to the year end | MSERC allows a home net metering from 1 kW up to the sanctioned load or contract demand, and never above 500 kW. Systems above 10 kW need a hybrid inverter and battery. |
| Mizoram | Surplus carried to the year end | JERC limits a net-metered rooftop system to 10 kW (from 1 kWp). |
| Odisha | Surplus carried to the year end | OERC allows net metering up to the sanctioned load, and never above 500 kW. |
| Puducherry | Surplus carried to the year end | JERC caps a home's net-metered system at its sanctioned load or contract demand. |
| Punjab | Surplus carried to the year end | PSERC caps a home's net-metered system at the sanctioned load (and at 500 kWp). |
| Rajasthan | Surplus paid or credited each bill | RERC caps the system at 100% of the sanctioned load. |
| Sikkim | Surplus carried to the year end | SSERC allows up to 10 kW for homes with a sanctioned load of 10 kW or less (the load is deemed raised to match). Above that, 40% of the sanctioned load or 10 kW, whichever is higher. LT single-phase supply is capped at 10 kWp, three-phase at 20 kWp. |
| Tamil Nadu | Surplus carried to the year end | TNERC allows homes net metering only up to the sanctioned load. |
| Telangana | Surplus paid or credited each bill | TGERC allows homes up to 100% of the sanctioned load. |
| Tripura | Surplus paid or credited each bill | TERC allows individual net metering from 1 kWp to 10 kWp, capped at the contracted load or demand. |
| Uttar Pradesh | Surplus carried to the year end | UPERC caps a rooftop system at the sanctioned load. |
| Uttarakhand | Surplus paid or credited each bill | UERC lets a home install rooftop solar irrespective of its sanctioned load, up to 1 MW. |
| West Bengal | Surplus carried to the year end | WBERC allows net metering from 1 kW up to the sanctioned load or contract demand, and never above 500 kW. |
From each state’s net metering regulations. Each link opens the rooftop solar calculator.
Related terms
Official sources
- MERC Explanatory Memorandum, Draft First Amendment to the Grid Interactive Rooftop RE Regulations (2023), quoting the Rights of Consumers (Amendment) Rules, 2021, sub-rule (4), as amended 2021
“The arrangements for net-metering, gross-metering, net-billing or net feed-in shall be in accordance with the regulations” - MERC Explanatory Memorandum, Draft First Amendment to the Grid Interactive Rooftop RE Regulations (2023), quoting the Rights of Consumers (Amendment) Rules, 2021, sub-rule (4) proviso
“and net-billing or net feed-in for other loads”
We read this in an official document that quotes the main rule, not in the main rule itself.
Read on 17 October 2026. Your State regulator’s rules and your discom’s bill have the final word.