When the DISCOM says no: reading a feasibility rejection

The application comes back rejected. The reason field says something like "not feasible" or is blank.

Your customer wants to know why, and "the DISCOM refused" is not an answer they will accept from someone they are about to pay a lakh and a half.

The five reasons behind most rejections

1. The distribution transformer is full. Many states cap total rooftop solar on a single distribution transformer as a share of its rating. Once the local DT reaches that limit, further applications on it are refused regardless of the individual customer's merits. This is the most common rejection that people misread as a mistake.

2. The system exceeds sanctioned load. Straightforward and fixable, and it should have been caught before the application. See sanctioned load is the ceiling nobody checks.

3. Consumer details do not match. The name on the bill, the address, the consumer category or the connection status differ from the application. Includes the classic case of a bill in a parent's name.

4. An existing connection or application. A previous solar application, an existing installation, or dues outstanding on the connection.

5. Technical condition of the service. The service cable, the pole, the meter or the phase cannot support the proposed system, or the connection is single phase where three is required.

Which are final and which are not

Be honest with yourself about this, because the wrong answer wastes weeks.

Fixable, on your side: capacity above sanctioned load, mismatched documents, wrong consumer category, application errors. Fix and resubmit.

Fixable, but slowly and with the DISCOM's cooperation: service line upgrades, phase change, meter change. These need a separate application and often a payment, and the timeline is theirs.

Sometimes genuinely final: a saturated distribution transformer. It may clear if the utility upgrades the transformer, which can take a very long time or never happen. Treat it as a no for planning purposes, and say so.

Between those, a smaller system may still be feasible on a loaded transformer. It is worth asking whether a reduced capacity would be approved, because for many residential customers a 2 kW approval today beats a 5 kW refusal.

Getting the actual reason

The stated reason is often a code, a phrase, or nothing. Three ways to get past that:

• Ask for it in writing, through the portal, politely and with the application number. A written reason is the thing you can act on and the thing you can show your customer.
• Ask the local section office. Someone there knows whether the transformer is loaded, because they hold that list.
• Look for the pattern. If three applications on the same street were refused in a month, the transformer is your answer and the fourth will be refused too.

What to tell the customer, and when

Within a day, not at the end of the week. Three sentences: what the DISCOM said, what it means, and what happens next, with a date attached.

When it is fixable, own it if it was your error. A missed sanctioned load check is your mistake, and customers forgive a vendor who says so far more readily than one who blames the utility.

When it is final, say so plainly and do not leave them hoping. If the transformer is saturated, tell them the capacity is not available today, that it depends on the utility upgrading it, and that you will tell them if that changes. Offer the smaller system if one is feasible. Then leave them alone rather than calling monthly.

The pattern worth building

Most of these rejections are preventable at the site visit. Consumer number, name on the bill, sanctioned load, phase, existing installations, outstanding dues, and an idea of whether the local transformer is already carrying solar.

Six questions. They convert a fortnight's delay into a five minute conversation, and they are the same six that make the net metering application go through first time.

The short version

• Most rejections come from five causes: a saturated distribution transformer, capacity above sanctioned load, mismatched consumer details, an existing application or dues, and the technical state of the service line.
• Document and capacity errors are fixable. Service upgrades are slow. A saturated transformer is often final.
• Ask whether a smaller capacity would be approved. A 2 kW yes beats a 5 kW no.
• Get the reason in writing through the portal, and ask the section office about transformer loading.
• Keep your own record of rejections by area. It becomes a map of where to sell.
• Tell the customer within a day, in three sentences, and own your own errors.