Ministry of Industry and Trade issued Circular No. 42/2022/TT-BCT dated 30 December 2022 regulating the inspection of electricity operations and use and settlement of disputes of the power purchase agreement (the “PPA”) with the following notable contents:

• The PPA in this Circular refers to any of the following agreements (excluding agreements between units engaging in electricity operations that engage in the electricity generation market, competitive wholesale electricity, and the PPA from rooftop solar power systems):
  • The PPA for domestic or non-domestic purposes signed between electricity users (including large electricity users) and electricity retailers for the purpose of purchasing electricity for use;
  • Electricity wholesale and retail agreements signed between electricity retailers and electricity wholesalers for the purpose of buying electricity for resale to a third party (except for agreements between member units of Vietnam Electricity (“EVN”) or agreements between EVN and member units).
• Procedures for settling disputes of the PPA:

i. Step 1: The disputing parties must negotiate by themselves;

ii. Step 2: If negotiation fails, either party has the right to send a written request to the Electricity Regulatory Authority or the Departments of Industry and Trade (the “Authority”) to settle the dispute according to its competence.

• Within 05 working days from the date of receipt of the request for dispute settlement, the Authority shall inform the relevant parties. If the request for dispute settlement is rejected, the Authority must respond in writing and state the reason.
• Within 20 days from the date of receipt of a valid dossier, the Authority is responsible for holding a conciliation meeting.
• Within 05 days from the date of holding the conciliation meeting, the Authority is responsible for issuing a written notice of dispute settlement results.
• For complicated cases, the organization of the conciliation meeting and the issuance of a written notice of the dispute settlement results shall not exceed 40 working days from the date of receipt of the valid dossier.

iii. Step 3: If either party disagrees with the settlement results of the Authority, they have the right to request commercial arbitration or initiate a lawsuit at Court for settlement.