Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Electricity Industry Act 2000 - SECT 31

Transfer of licence

31. Transfer of licence



(1) The holder of a licence may apply to the Commission for approval to
transfer the licence.



(2) An application must be in a form approved by the Commission and
accompanied by such documents as may be required by the Commission.



(3) An application must be accompanied by the application fee (if any) fixed
by the Commission.



(4) The Commission must publish in a daily newspaper generally circulating in
Victoria a notice-

   (a)  specifying that an application for the transfer of the licence has
        been lodged with the Commission for the transfer by the holder to a
        proposed transferee specified in the notice; and

   (b)  inviting interested persons to make submissions to the Commission in
        respect of the application within the period and in the manner
        specified in the notice.

(5) Subject to this section, the Commission may approve, or refuse to approve,
the application for any reason it considers appropriate, having regard to the
objectives of the Commission under this Act and under the
Essential Services Commission Act 2001.







(6) The Commission must not approve the application unless the Commission is
satisfied that-



   (a)  the proposed transferee has the technical capacity to comply with the
        conditions of the licence or the conditions as varied by the
        Commission under this section; and

   (b)  subject to subsection (7), in the case of an application for the
        transfer of a licence to sell electricity, the proposed transferee is
        financially viable.

(7) The Commission does not have to be satisfied as to the applicant's
financial viability if the licence includes a condition requiring compliance
with the National Electricity Rules and the Rules include prudential
requirements.

(8) The Commission may decide that, upon the transfer of the licence under
this section, the conditions to which the licence is subject are varied as
decided by the Commission.

(9) Subject to this section and any requirements specified in regulations made
for the purposes of this section under section 119, the Commission may decide
the procedures that are to apply in respect of the transfer of the licences.

(10) The Commission must notify an applicant in writing of its decision to
approve or refuse to approve the application and, in the case of a decision to
refuse to approve the application, of the reasons for its decision.

(11) The Commission must ensure that notice of the approval for the transfer
of a licence is published in the Government Gazette as soon as possible after
the decision to approve the transfer is made.