ELECTRICITY REGULATORY COMMISSIONS ACT, 1998
(1) This Act may be called the Electricity Regulatory Commissions Act, 1998.
(2) It extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force on the 25th day of April, 1998.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—
(a) “Central Commission” means the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission established under sub-section (1) of section 3;
(b) “Chairperson” means the Chairperson of the Commission;
(c) “Commission” means the Central Commission 1[or the State Commission or the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission], as the case may be;
(d) “High Court” means—
(i) the High Court within the jurisdiction of which the aggrieved party ordinarily resides or carries on business or personally works for gain; and
(ii) where the Central Government is the aggrieved party, th
(1) The Central Government shall, within three months from the date of the commencement of this Act by notification in the Official Gazette, establish a body to be known as the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission to exercise the powers conferred on, and the functions assigned to it under this Act.
(2) The Central Commission shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid, having perpetual succession and a common seal with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and to contract and shall, by the said name, sue or be sued.
(3) The head office of the Central Commission shall be at such place as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.
(4) The Central Commission shall consist of the following Members, namely:—
(1) The Chairperson and the Members of the Central Commission shall be persons having adequate knowledge, experience or shown capacity in dealing with problems relating to engineering, law, economics, commerce, finance or management and shall be appointed in the following manner, namely:—
(a) one person having qualification and experience in the field of engineering with specialisation in generation, transmission or distribution of electricity;
(b) one person having qualification and experience in the field of finance; and
(c) two persons having qualification and experience in the field of economics, commerce, law or management:
Provided that not more than one Member shall be appointed under the same category under clause (c)
(1) The Central Government shall, for the purpose of sub-section (5) of section 3, constitute a Selection Committee consisting of—
(a) Member of the Planning Commission incharge
of the energy sector —Chairperson;
(b) Secretary-in-charge of the Ministry of the Central
Government dealing with the Department of
Legal Affairs —Member;
(c) Chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board —Member;
(d) a
(1) The Chairperson or other Member shall hold office as such for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office, but shall not be eligible for re-appointment:
Provided that no Chairperson or other Member shall hold office as such after he has attained,—
(a) in the case of the Chairperson, the age of sixty-five years; and
(b) in the case of any other Member, the age of sixty-two years.
(2) The salary and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of, the Chairperson and other Members shall be such as may be prescribed.
(3) The salary, allowances and other conditions of service of the Chairperson and other Members shall not be varied to thei
(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (3), any Member of the Central Commission shall only be removed from his office by order of the President on the ground of proved misbehaviour after the Supreme Court, on reference being made to it by the President, has, on an inquiry, held in accordance with the procedure prescribed in this behalf by the Supreme Court, reported that the Member, ought on any such ground to be removed.
(2) The President may suspend any Member of the Central Commission in respect of whom a reference has been made to the Supreme Court under sub-section (1) until the President has passed an order on receipt of the report of the Supreme Court.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the President may by order remove from office the Chairperson or any other Member, if the Chairperson or such other
(1) The Central Commission may appoint a Secretary to exercise and perform under the control of the Chairperson such powers and duties as may be specified by regulations made by the Central Commission.
(2) The Central Commission may, with the approval of the Central Government, determine the number, nature and categories of other officers and employees required to assist the Central Commission in the discharge of its functions.
(3) The salaries and allowances payable to, and other conditions of service of, the Secretary, officers and other employees shall be such as may be determined with the approval of the Central Government, by regulations.
(4) The Central Commission may appoint consultants required to assist the Central Commission in the discharge of its functions on the terms and conditio
(1) The Central Commission shall meet at the head office or any of its offices at such time as the Chairperson may direct, and shall observe such rules of procedure in regard to the transaction of business at its meetings (including the quorum at its meetings) as may be determined by regulations.
(2) The Chairperson or, if he is unable to attend a meeting of the Central Commission, any other Member nominated by the Chairperson in this behalf and, in the absence of such nomination or where there is no Chairperson, any Member chosen by the Members present from among themselves, shall preside at the meeting.
(3) All questions which come up before any meeting of the Central Commission shall be decided by a majority of votes of the Members (including the Member, ex officio) present and voting, and in the event of an equality of votes, the Cha
No act or proceedings of the Central Commission shall be questioned or shall be invalidated merely on the ground of existence of any vacancy or defect in the constitution of the Central Commission.
The expenses of the Central Commission including all salaries and allowances payable to, or in respect of, the Chairperson and the Member of the Central Commission shall be charged upto the Consolidated Fund of India.
The Central Commission, shall, for the purposes of any inquiry or proceedings under this Act have the powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), in respect of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the summoning and enforcing the attendance of any witness and examining him on oath;
(b) the discovery and production of any document or other material object producible as evidence;
(c) the reception of evidence on affidavits;
(d) the requisition of any public record;
(e) the issue of commission for examination of witnesses;
(f) review its decisions, directions and orders;<
The Central Commission shall discharge all or any of the following functions, namely:—
(a) to regulate the tariff of generating companies owned or controlled by the Central Government;
(b) to regulate the tariff of generating companies, other than those owned or controlled by the Central Government specified in clause (a), if such generating companies enter into or otherwise have a composite scheme for generation and sale of electricity in more than one State;
(c) to regulate the inter-State transmission of energy including tariff of the transmission utilities;
(d) to promote competition, efficiency and economy in the activities of the electricity industry;
(e) to a
(1) The Central Commission may, by notification, establish with effect from such date as it may specify in such notification, a Committee to be known as the Central Advisory Committee.
(2) The Central Advisory Committee shall consist of not more than thirty-one members to represent the interests of commerce, industry, transport, agriculture, labour, consumers, non-governmental organisations and academic and research bodies in the energy sector.
(3) The Chairperson and Members of the Central Commission shall be the ex officio Chairperson and ex officio Members of the Central Advisory Committee.
The objects of the Central Advisory Committee shall be to advise the Central Commission on,—
(i) major questions of policy;
(ii) matters relating to quality, continuity and extent of service provided by the licensees;
(iii) compliance by the licensees with the conditions and requirements of their licence;
(iv) protection of consumer interest; and
(v) energy supply and overall standards of performance by utilities.
(1) Any person aggrieved by any decision or order of the Central Commission may file an appeal to the High Court.
(2) Except as aforesaid, no appeal or revision shall lie to any court from any decision or order of the Central Commission.
(3) Every appeal under this section shall be preferred within sixty days from the date of communication of the decision or order of the Central Commission to the person aggrieved by the said decision or order;
Provided that the High Court may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the said period of sixty days if it is satisfied that the aggrieved person had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within the period of sixty days.
(1) The State Government may, if it deems fit, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish, for the purposes of this Act, a Commission for the State to be known as the (name of the State) Electricity Regulatory Commission.
(2) The State Commission shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid, having perpetual succession and a common seal, with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and to contract and shall, by the said name, sue or be sued.
(3) The head office of the State Commission shall be at such place as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify.
(4) The State Commission shall consist of not more than three Members including the Chairperson.
(5) The Chairperson and
(1) The State Government shall, for the purposes of selecting the Members of the State Electricity Commission, constitute a Selection Committee consisting of—
(a) a person who has been a Judge of the High Court —Chairperson;
(b) the Chief Secretary of the concerned State —Member;
(c) the Chairperson or a Member of
the Central Electricity Authority —Member:
Provided that nothing contained in this clause shall apply to the appointment of a person as the Chairperson who is or has been a Judge of the High Court.
(2) No appointment of a M
(1) The Chairperson or other Member shall hold office as such for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office, but shall not be eligible for reappointment:
Provided that no Chairperson or other Member shall hold office as such after he has attained,—
(a) in the case of the Chairperson, the age of sixty-five years; and
(b) in the case of any other Member, the age of sixty-two years.
(2) The salary and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of, the Members of the State Commission shall be such as may be prescribed by the State Government.
(3) The salary, allowances and other conditions of service of the Members, shall not be varied to
(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (3), any Member of the State Commission shall only be removed from his office by order of the Governor on the ground of proved misbehaviour after the High Court, on reference being made to it by the Governor, has, on inquiry, held in accordance with the procedure prescribed in that behalf by the High Court, reported that the Member, ought on any such ground to be removed.
(2) The Governor may suspend any member of the State Commission in respect of whom a reference has been made to the High Court under sub-section (1) until the Governor has passed orders on the receipt of the report of the High Court on such reference.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the Governor may by order remove from office, the Member if he—
(a
(1) The State Commission may appoint a Secretary to exercise and perform under the control of the Chairperson such duties and powers as may be specified by regulations made by the State Commission.
(2) The State Commission may, with the approval of the State Government, determine the number, nature and categories of other officers and employees required to assist the State Commission in the discharge of its functions.
(3) The salaries and allowances payable to, and other conditions of service of, the Secretary, officers and other employees shall be such as may be determined by regulations with the approval of the State Government.
(4) The State Commission may appoint consultants required to assist the State Commission in the discharge of its functions on the terms and conditions as may be dete
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, an agreement may be entered into—
(a) by two or more State Governments,
(b) by the Central Government (in respect of one or more Union territories) and one or more State Governments,
to be in force for such period and to be subject to renewal for such further period, if any, as may be specified in the agreement to provide for the constitution of a Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission,—
(i) in a case referred to in clause (a), for all the participating States; and
(ii) in a case referred in clause (b), for the participating Union territory or Union territories and the State or States.
&
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, where any Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission is constituted under section 21A,—
(a) the Government of the State for which the Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission is constituted shall be competent to give any direction under this Act only in cases where such direction relates to a matter within the exclusive territorial jurisdiction of the State;
(b) the Central Government alone shall be competent to give any direction under this Act where such direction relates to a matter within the territorial jurisdiction of two or more States or pertains to a Union territory if the participating Governments fail to reach an agreement or the participating States or majority of them request the Central Government to issue such directions.]
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(1) Subject to the provisions of Chapter III, the State Commission shall discharge the following functions, namely:—
(a) to determine the tariff for electricity, wholesale, bulk, grid or retail, as the case may be, in the manner provided in section 29;
(b) to determine the tariff payable for the use of the transmission facilities in the manner provided in section 29;
(c) to regulate power purchase and procurement process of the transmission utilities and distribution utilities including the price at which the power shall be procured from the generating companies, generating stations or from other sources for transmission, sale, distribution and supply in the State;
(d) to promote competition, efficiency and economy in
The provisions of sections 9, 10 and 12 shall apply to a State Commission and shall have effect, subject to the following modifications, namely:—
(a) references to “Central Commission” shall be construed as references to “State Commission”;
(b) in sub-section (3) of section 9, the brackets and words “(including the Member ex officio)” shall be omitted.
(1) The State Commission may, by notification, establish with effect from such date as it may specify in such notification, a Committee to be known as the State Advisory Committee.
(2) The State Advisory Committee shall consist of not more than twenty-one members to represent the interests of commerce, industry, transport, agriculture, labour, consumers, non-governmental organisations and academic and research bodies in the energy sector.
(3) The Chairperson and the Members of the State Commission shall be ex officio Chairperson and ex officio Members of the State Advisory Committee.
The objects of the State Advisory Committee shall be to advise the Commission on—
(i) major questions of policy;
(ii) matters relating to quality, continuity and extent of service provided by the licensees;
(iii) compliance by licensees with the conditions and requirements of their licence;
(iv) protection of consumer interest; and
(v) energy supply and overall standards of performance by utilities.
The State Commission shall authorise any person as it deems fit to represent the interest of the consumers in all the proceedings before it.
(1) Any person aggrieved by any decision or order of the State Commission may file an appeal to the High Court.
(2) Except as aforesaid, no appeal or revision shall lie to any court from any decision or order of the State Commission.
(3) Every appeal under this section shall be preferred within sixty days from the date of communication of the decision or order of the State Commission to the person aggrieved by the said decision or order:
Provided that the High Court may entertain an appeal after the expiry of the said period of sixty days if it is satisfied that the aggrieved person had sufficient cause for not preferring the appeal within the said period of sixty days.
The Central Commission shall determine by regulations the terms and conditions for fixation of tariff under clauses (a), (b) and (c) of section 13, and in doing so, shall be guided by the following, namely:—
(a) the generating companies and transmission entities shall adopt such principles in order that they may earn an adequate return and at the same time that they do not exploit their dominant position in the generation, sale of electricity or in the inter-State transmission of electricity;
(b) the factors which would encourage efficiency, economical use of the resources, good performance, optimum investments and other matters which the Central Commission considers appropriate;
(c) national power plans formulated by the Central Government; and
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(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, the tariff for intra-State transmission of electricity and the tariff for supply of electricity, grid, wholesale, bulk or retail, as the case may be, in a State (hereinafter referred to as the tariff), shall be subject to the provisions of this Act and the tariff shall be determined by the State Commission of that State in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
1[Provided that in States or Union territories where Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission has been constituted, such Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission shall determine different tariff for each of the participating States or Union territories.]
(2) The State Commission shall determine by regulations the terms and conditions for the fixation to tariff, and in doing so, shall be guided by the following, namely:—
Where the Commissions depart from factors specified in clauses (a) to (d) of section 28 and clauses (a) to (f) of sub-section (2) of section 29, they shall record the reasons for such departure in writing.
The Central Commission shall prepare, in such form and at such time in each financial year as may be prescribed, its budget for the next financial year, showing the estimated receipts and expenditure of the Central Commission and forward the same to the Central Government.
(1) The Central Commission shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts in such form as may be prescribed by the Central Government in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
(2) The accounts of the Central Commission shall be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General at such intervals as may be specified by him and any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by the Central Commission to the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
(3) The Comptroller and Auditor-General and any person appointed by him in connection with the audit of the accounts of the Central Commission under this Act shall have the same rights and privileges and authority in connection with such audit as the Comptroller and Auditor-General generally has in connect
The State Commissions shall prepare, in such form and at such time in each financial year as may be prescribed, its budget for the next financial year, showing the estimated receipts and expenditure of the State Commission and forward the same to the State Government.
(1) The State Commission shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare and annual statement of accounts in such form as may be prescribed by the State Government in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
(2) The accounts of the State Commission shall be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General at such intervals as may be specified by him and any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by the State Commission to the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
(3) The Comptroller and Auditor-General and any person appointed by him in connection with the audit of the accounts of the State Commission under this Act shall have the same rights and privileges and authority in connection with such audit as the Comptroller and Auditor-General generally has in connection with
(1) The Central Commission shall prepare once every year, in such form and at such time as may be prescribed, an annual report giving a summary of its activities during the previous year and copies of the report shall be forwarded to the Central Government.
(2) A copy of the report received under sub-section (1) shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is received, before each House of Parliament.
(1) The State Commission shall prepare once every year in such form and at such time as may be prescribed, an annual report giving a summary of its activities during the previous year and copies of the report shall be forwarded to the State Government,
(2) A copy of the report received under sub-section (l) shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is received, before the State Legislature.
The Commissions shall ensure transparency while exercising their powers and discharging their functions.
(1) In the discharge of its functions, the Central Commission shall be guided by such directions in matters of policy involving public interest as the Central Government may give to it in writing.
(2) If any question arises as to whether any such direction relates to a matter of policy involving public interest, the decision of the Central Government thereon shall be final.
(1) In the discharge of its functions, the State Commission shall be guided by such directions in matters of policy involving public interest as the State Government may give to it in writing.
(2) If any question arises as to whether any such direction relates to a matter of policy involving public interest, the decision of the State Government thereon shall be final.
The Chairperson, Members, officers and other employees of the Commissions shall be deemed, when acting or purporting to act in pursuance of any of the provisions of this Act, to be public servants within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860).
The provisions of this Act in so far as they relate to the State Commission shall not apply to the Commissions established under the Orissa Electricity Reform Act, 1995 or the Haryana State Electricity Reform Act, 1997.
All proceedings before the Commission shall be deemed to be judicial proceedings within the meaning of sections 193 and 228 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) and the Commission shall be deemed to be a civil court for the purposes of sections 345 and 346 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974).
No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the Central or State Government or the Central or State Commission or any officer of Central or State Government or any Members, officer or other employees of the Central or State Commission for anything which is in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act or the rules or regulations made thereunder.
Whoever fails to comply with any order or direction given under this Act, within such time as may be specified in the said order or direction or contravenes, or attempts to contravene or abets the contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or any rules or regulations made thereunder shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months or with fine, which may extend to rupees one lakh or, with both in respect of each offence and in the case of a continuing failure, with an additional fine which may extend to rupees four thousand for every day during which the failure continues after conviction of the first such offence.
(1) In case any complaint is filed before the Commission by any person or if the Commission is satisfied that any person has contravened any directions issued by the Commission under this Act, rules or regulations made thereunder, the Commission may after giving such person an opportunity of being heard in the matter, by order in writing, direct that, without prejudice to any other penalty to which he may be liable under this Act, such person shall pay, by way of penalty, which shall not exceed rupees one lakh for each contravention and in case of a continuing failure with an additional penalty which may extend to rupees six thousand for every day during which the failure continues after contravention of the first such direction.
(2) Any amount payable under this section, if not paid, may be recovered as if it were an arrear of land revenue.
The Commission or any other officer, not below the rank of a Gazetted Officer, specially authorised in this behalf by the Commission may enter any building or place where the Commission has reasons to believe that any document relating to the subject matter of the inquiry may be found, and may seize any such document or take extracts or copies therefrom subject to the provisions of section 100 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 (2 of 1974), in so far as it may be applicable.
(1) Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company, every person who at the time, the offence was committed was in charge of, and was responsible to the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment provided in this Act if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he has exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
(2) Nothwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivanc
No court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under this Act except upon a complaint, in writing, made by the Commission or by any other officer duly authorised by the Commission for this purpose.
Nothing contained in this Act or any rule or regulation made thereunder or any instrument having effect by virtue of this Act, rule or regulation shall have effect in so far as it is inconsistent with any other provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (68 of 1986) or the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 (33 of 1962).
The Central or the State Commission may, by general or special order in writing, delegate to any Members, officer of the Central or the State Commission or any other person subject to such conditions, if any, as may be specified in the order, such of its powers and functions under this Act (except the power to settle disputes under Chapters III and V and the power to make regulations under section 55 or section 58) as it may deem necessary.
With effect from such date as the Central Government may, by notification, in the Official Gazette appoint, sub-section (2) of section 43A of the Electricity (Supply) Act, 1948 shall be omitted:
Provided that different dates may be appointed for different States.
Save as otherwise provided in section 49, the provisions of this Act shall have effect notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any enactment other than this Act.
The Central Government may give directions to a State Government as to the carrying out into execution of this Act in the State.
(1) The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the salary and allowances payable to and the other conditions of service of the Chairperson and Members under sub-section (2) of section 6;
(b) the form and the manner in which and the authority before whom oath of office and secrecy should be subscribed under sub-section (4) of section 6;
(c) the form in which and the time at which, the Central Commission shall prepare its budget under section 31;
(1) The Central Commission may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make regulations consistent with this Act and the rules generally to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such regulations may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the powers and duties of the Secretary under sub-section (1) of section 8;
(b) the salaries, allowances and other conditions of service of the Secretary, officers and other employees under sub-section (3) of section 8;
(c) the terms and conditions of the consultants appointed under sub-section (4) of section 8;
(d) the rules of procedure
Every rule made by the Central Government and every regulation made by the Central Commission under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or regulation or both Houses agree that the rule or regulation should not be made, the rule or regulation shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule or regulation.
(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules to carry out the provisions of this Act.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the salary, allowances and other conditions of service of the Members under sub-section (2) of section 19;
(b) the form and the manner in which and the authority before whom the oath of office and secrecy should be subscribed under sub-section (4) of section 19;
(c) the form in which and the time at which, the State Commission shall prepare its budget under section 33;
(d) the form in which annual
(1) The State Commission may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make regulations consistent with this Act and the rules made thereunder to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(2) In particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such regulations may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:—
(a) the duties and powers of the Secretary under sub-section (1) of section 21;
(b) the salary, allowances and other conditions of service of the Secretary, officers and other employees under sub-section (3) of section 21;
(c) the terms and conditions of consultants appointed under sub-section (4) of section 21;
(d) the manner in which c
Every rule made by the State Government and every regulation made by the State Commission under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of the State Legislature where it consists of two Houses, or where such Legislature consists of one House, before that House
(1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Central Government may, by order, published in the Official Gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as may appear to be necessary for removing the difficulty:
Provided that no order shall be made under this section after the expiry of two years from the date of commencement of this Act.
(2) Every order made under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament.
(1) The Electricity Regulatory Commissions Ordinance, 1998 (Ord. 14 of 1998) is hereby repealed.
(2) Notwithstanding such repeal, anything done or any action taken under the said Ordinance shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions of this Act.
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