Section 40:
The Office may acquire revenue and assets as follows:

(1) the revenue or benefits derived from the execution of authority and duties as assigned to the ERC and the Office under this Act;

(2) a general subsidy allocated by the government;

(3) donated money or assets; and

(4) interest or any benefit incurred from the money or assets of the Office.

As for the revenue of the Office under Clause one hereof, excluding the revenue under (3), after having deducted the operating expenditures of the Office and other costs, as it may think fit, whatever remaining shall be remitted to the Ministry of Finance as state revenue. In the event that the revenue of the Office is inadequate for the operating costs and that no money can be obtained from other sources, the government shall allocate money from the government budget to the Office, as a general subsidy pursuant to (2), at an amount deemed necessary.

Section 41:
The ERC shall present to the cabinet for approval the operational plan, expenditure budget and revenue estimation of the Office in each fiscal year, including the plan for determining the rates of fees and other benefits under Section 40 (1). When the plan for determining the rates of fees and other benefits under Clause one hereof is approved, the ERC shall set the rates of fees and other benefits in compliance with the approved plan, so that the Office would gain revenue according to the operational plan already approved by the cabinet.

With regard to the subsidy to be requested for allocation from the government budget, the Minister shall present to the cabinet the expenditure budget of the fiscal year for which the support is being requested. The allocation of the general subsidy for the Office shall be incorporated into the Fiscal Budget Bill or the Additional Budget Bill, whichever is the case.

Section 42:
The Office shall have the authority to occupy, oversee, maintain, use and make profits from its assets, in line with the regulations prescribed by the ERC.

As for the assets that are state properties under the law on state properties, the criteria, procedures and conditions of the possession, maintenance, usage and profit-making in relation to the state properties under the law on state properties shall be applied mutatis mutandis. The revenue derived from the aforesaid acts shall be delivered as state revenue.

Section 43:
All immovable properties acquired by the Office through purchase or exchange, using the revenue or assets of the Office, or through donation under Section 40 (3), shall become under the ownership of the Office.

Section 44:
The accounting of the Office and of the Fund shall be made according to the international standards under the format, criteria, methods and conditions specified by the ERC. The accounting separation shall be distinctly made, and there shall be an internal audit of the finance, accounting and inventories of the Office and of the Fund. A report on the audit outcome shall be made to the ERC at least once a year.

A staff member of the Office shall be assigned to specifically undertake the internal audit function and shall report directly to the ERC according to the regulations set forth by the ERC.

Section 45:
The Office shall prepare the financial statements and work sheets of the Office and of the Fund to be submitted to the internal auditor within one hundred and twenty (120) days as from the end of each fiscal year.

In each fiscal year round, the Office of the Auditor General of Thailand, or an outsider as appointed by the ERC with consent of the Office of the Auditor General of Thailand, shall audit and assess the budget expenditure and the assets of the Office and of the Fund, by providing analytical comments on the expenditure performance in terms of the objective compliance and the degree of economy, worthiness, efficiency and effectiveness achieved.

The Office shall be an entity subject to auditing under the constitutional law on the government audit.

Section 46:
At the end of each fiscal year, the ERC shall have to prepare an annual report to be presented to the National Energy Policy Council, the Minister, the cabinet, the House of Representatives and the Senate, and to be made public. The report shall cover the acquisition and expenditure of the money that need not be remitted to the Ministry of Finance as state revenue, the achievements of the ERC, the Office and the Fund in the past year, together with the rationales of the decisions made, the financial statements, the work sheets together with the auditor’s report, including the future operational plans of the ERC, the Office and the Fund.

DIVISION 3
REGULATION OF THE ENERGY INDUSTRY OPERATION
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PART 1
LICENSE FOR THE ENERGY INDUSTRY OPERATION
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Section 47:
The energy industry operation, either with or without remuneration, shall have to obtain a license from the ERC.
In issuing a license, the ERC shall announce and determine the type and validity period of license that corresponds with the capacity and characteristics of individual energy industry categories, taking into account the impact on the people, the worthiness in the economic, social and investment aspects, including the competitive features of each business category. Conditions to be exclusively applied may also be specified.

The determination of categories, capacities and characteristics of the energy industry that are exempt from the license requirement shall be promulgated through the issuance of a Royal Decree.

For the benefit of data/statistics collection, the ERC may announce and prescribe that the energy industry that are exempt from the license requirement pursuant to Clause three hereof shall have to notify the Office of their operation.

Section 48:
In the case that the facility construction or factory establishment for the purpose of energy industry operation must comply with the law on factories, the law on building control, the law on town and country planning or the law on energy development and promotion, the authorization under the laws on those respective matters shall become under the authority and duties of the ERC under this Act. In this regard, the ERC shall have to solicit for comments from the authoritative agencies under the respective laws, and the concerned agencies must provide comments and indicate the amount of fees to be collected under those respective laws, to the ERC.

The Office shall deliver the fees collected by the ERC under Clause one hereof to the respective authoritative agencies under those laws for further action.

Section 49:
The ERC shall have the power to order a business operator who is considered to be an energy industry operator requiring a license but who has not yet obtained any license to stop or suspend the energy industry operation or to disconnect from the energy network system.

After the ERC has issued the order under Clause one hereof, if the business operator fails to abide by the order, the ERC shall have the authority to order the competent officials to take any necessary action to achieve the objective of the order under Clause one hereof.

In such a case, the business operator shall have to pay for the expenses actually incurred to the Office.

Section 50:
The qualifications of an applicant for a license, the criteria, procedures and conditions of the application for a license and the license issuance, including the license fees and the rates of the energy industry operation fees, shall be in line with the regulations stipulated and announced by the ERC, which shall correspond with the plans under Section 9 (3) or with the energy policy as approved by the cabinet.

Section 51:
The criteria, procedures and conditions of license issuance stipulated by the ERC under Section 50 shall take into account the difference of the categories, capacities and characteristics of the energy industry and shall not create an undue burden on the energy industry operation of the licensees and shall not lead to the limitation of market competition. Also, they shall not be discriminately applied to the licensees who operate the energy industry of the same category, capacity and characteristics.

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