APTEL dismisses IEX's plea to quash market-coupling order; stock drops 5%

APTEL dismissed Indian Energy Exchange's plea to quash Central Electricity Regulatory Commission's (CERC) July 2025 direction to implement market coupling.

Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) share price today

Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) share price fell over 5 per cent on Friday after the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) reportedly dismissised the plea of IEX in market decoupling case. The stock fell as much as 5.2 per cent to ₹119.38 per, the lowest level since February 2 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). 

 

As of 12:48 PM, IEX share was quoting at ₹124, down 1.52 per cent, as compared to a 0.9 per cent decline in the Nifty 50 index. Around 16.2 million shares of the company have changed hands on NSE so far.

 

In the last 12 months, IEX share price declined 27.6 per cent, as compared to a 11 per cent advance in the Nifty 50 index. 

 

Why did Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) share price fall today?

IEX shares were reeling under selling pressure after reports said that APTEL has dismissed its plea to quash Central Electricity Regulatory Commission's (CERC) July 2025 direction to implement market coupling. 

 

APTEL's dismissal means that CERC is clear to enforce market coupling, which may hurt IEX's margins by reducing its market share.  

Market decoupling case

 

On July 25, 2025, CERC ordered a 'suo-moto' implementation of market coupling of the Day-Ahead Market (DAM) of the power exchanges by January 2026. The regulator proposed that power exchanges may act as the Market Coupling Operator (MCO) on a rotational basis, with Grid-India being the fourth MCO for backup and audit process. The MCO will set one uniform price for the entire country on aggregate bids. 

 

At present, each power exchange, including IEX, discovers its own price for electricity. This gives an exclusive price-discovery edge to the exchanges. 

 

Following the order, IEX approached the APTEL, seeking review and arguing CERC had ulterior motives, and had used incorrect methodoloy in regulation. The exchange also pointed out that price benefits from coupling are negligible.  

 

In October 2025, the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) issued an interim order with prima facie findings that certain individuals, even some officials of the CERC, were involved in the insider trading pertaining to the trade of IEX shares, usingundisclosed public information (USPI decision on coupling.