BESCOM net-metering for homeowners: documents, timeline, and the rejection trap

Most people researching rooftop solar in Bengaluru spend their time on panels — which brand, how many watts, DCR or not. Almost nobody spends time on the paperwork. That is backwards. The panels decide how many units your roof makes; the net-metering approval decides whether those units are worth anything to you.

This is the article we would want a homeowner to read before signing anything. It covers what net metering actually is, the documents you need, the sequence you go through with BESCOM, and the one mistake that stalls a substantial share of residential applications — a mistake that has nothing to do with your roof and everything to do with a number on your existing electricity bill.

What is net metering, and why does it decide whether solar pays back?

Your solar system generates most of its power in the middle of the day — precisely when a typical Bengaluru household is out at work or school and using very little. Your heaviest consumption is in the evening, after the sun is gone.

Without net metering, the two never meet. The units your roof makes at noon simply vanish into the grid, unrecorded and unpaid. You still buy your evening power from BESCOM at full tariff. The system runs, the meter spins as it always did, and the payback maths collapses.

A net meter is a bidirectional meter. It records units flowing out to the grid as well as units flowing in, and BESCOM bills you on the net. Your noon surplus is credited against your evening consumption. That single instrument is the difference between a system that pays for itself and an expensive roof ornament.

So net metering is not paperwork you do after going solar. It is the reason to go solar. It also gates your PM Surya Ghar subsidy — the ₹78,000 for a 3 kW system is credited to your bank account only after commissioning and net-meter installation.

What documents does a Bengaluru homeowner need?

The exact list varies a little by sub-division, but for an owner-occupied independent house in Bengaluru you should expect to produce:

Two points worth internalising. First, the name on the sale deed, the name on the BESCOM bill and the name on the bank account should be the same person, or you will spend weeks on clarifications. Mismatches — a bill still in a deceased parent's name, a khata not yet transferred after purchase — are one of the quietest causes of rework in the whole process.

Second, the RR number on your bill is the identifier that follows your application everywhere. It is the alphanumeric "RR No", not the ten-digit account number printed alongside it. Filing the wrong one is a small error that costs real time.

What is the sequence, from application to commissioning?

The steps run in a fixed order, and each one gates the next:

1. Application — forms, annexures and documents filed with your BESCOM sub-division, with the PM Surya Ghar registration alongside if you are claiming the subsidy.
2. Sanctioned-load check — BESCOM verifies your proposed system size against the load already sanctioned on your connection. This is where applications quietly fail. More on it below.
3. Feasibility approval — the sub-division clears the connection for solar and issues technical approval.
4. Installation — only now does hardware go on the roof. Installing before approval means installing at risk.
5. Inspection — BESCOM inspects the installation, wiring and safety earthing.
6. Net meter — the bidirectional meter is installed and configured.
7. Commissioning — the system is energised on record, and the subsidy claim can proceed.

We are not going to tell you how many days this takes. Queues vary genuinely and substantially between sub-divisions, and anyone quoting you a confident turnaround is either guessing or repeating a number they have not measured. What we will say is that the sequence is what it is, that steps cannot be skipped, and that a clean file moves through it and a careless one does not.

What is the rejection trap?

Here it is, and it catches more people than any other single issue.

Every BESCOM connection has a sanctioned load — the maximum load your connection is approved for, printed on your bill. Many older Bengaluru homes are sanctioned at 1 kW or 2 kW, a number set decades ago and never revisited. It is not what you actually draw; it is what you are permitted to draw.

BESCOM will not net-meter a solar system larger than your sanctioned load. If your roof and your bill justify a 3 kW system but your connection is sanctioned at 1 kW, the application does not fail loudly on day one — it stalls, comes back for clarification, and eventually forces you to go and increase the sanction anyway, months later, having already lost the queue position. Commonly, homeowners discover this only once the file is already in.

The fix is straightforward if you do it in the right order: increase the sanctioned load first, then apply for net metering at the size you actually want.

That increase is a separate statutory step. It is charged extra — it is not inside the price quoted above — and it is shown as its own line on your proposal, never bundled into anything else:

• +1 kW — ₹10,000
• +2 kW — ₹15,000
• +3 kW and above — ₹7,000 per kW

All plus 18% GST, charged on the increase only, rounded up to the next whole kW. It is nil if your existing sanction already covers the recommended system size, and nil if you choose to arrange the increase yourself.

That last point matters: the increase is charged extra, on its own line, and it disappears entirely if it does not apply to you. Check your bill for your sanctioned load before you talk to anyone — it is the single most useful number you can walk into a solar conversation holding.

You can get a system size and a full cost picture for your own roof in a couple of minutes: helira.in/start.

What does the paperwork cost you?

Take the base case — a 3 kW DCR system on a Bengaluru independent house where the existing sanctioned load already covers 3 kW, so no load increase is needed. The all-in cost is ₹2,62,725 including GST, and the net outlay after the ₹78,000 PM Surya Ghar subsidy is ₹1,84,725 — the full line-by-line breakdown, including where the sanctioned-load increase fits, is set out in our worked example.

This is an illustration, not a quote. Your own figure depends on your roof, your bill and your sanctioned load — and if your sanction is below your system size, the statutory increase above is added as its own separate line.

Regulatory handling — ₹15,000. One fee, one point of accountability: the PM Surya Ghar application (where you opt in), your society or RWA NOC, civil-work permissions (BBMP/BWSSB where applicable), the net-metering paperwork and BESCOM coordination. We prepare the forms, file them, and follow up with the sub-divisions. You sign; we run the queues. It is a single line — not a pile of hidden charges, and not itemised into fees and margins for you to squint at.

Helira Energy Private Limited is a brand and technology company for residential rooftop solar. The physical installation is carried out by installers certified to Helira’s standard — but your contract is with Helira Energy Private Limited, and the warranty and accountability stay with us. You never chase a manufacturer or an installer. Full coverage, including exclusions: Warranted by Helira.

Before you talk to anyone

Do two things. Find your sanctioned load on your BESCOM bill. Check that your bill, your ownership document and your bank account carry the same name. Those two checks, done in five minutes today, prevent the great majority of the rework we see.

Then get the real number for your roof: helira.in/start, or message us on WhatsApp — wa.me/918073291022. We work with owner-occupied independent houses in Bengaluru with a monthly bill above about ₹1,500.