P. Naveen Rao, J.

1. The issues raised in the group of appeals are on provision of pre-paid meters to High Tension (HT) consumers and demand by the Power Distribution Companies for payment of additional consumption deposit on the ground that there is increase in consumption of electricity by HT Consumers.

2. The group of writ appeals arises from the common order of the learned single Judge in batch of writ petitions. Parties are referred to as arrayed in writ petitions. Petitioners are all companies involved in manufacturing various products and they draw electricity from the State Power Distribution Companies. As they consume high volume of electricity, they are classified as High Tension (HT) Consumers. In the group of writ petitions, petitioners challenge the decisions of respective Power Utility Companies, demanding additional security deposit as a condition precedent to provide uninterrupted electrical energy to them and not providing pre-paid meters to supply power. In some of the writ petitions petitioners also challenged the legality of the A.P. Electricity Regulation Commission (Security Deposit) First Amendment Regulation, 2013 (Regulation No. 3/2013).

3. By the o