I hereby give My Sanction to the Law concerning the partial amendment to the Electric Enterprise Law, approved by the Imperial Diet and cause the same to be promulgated.
Signed:HIROHITO, Seal of the Emperor
This fourteenth day of the ninth month of the twenty-first year of Showa (September 14, 1946)
Countersigned: Prime Minister YOSHIDA Shigeru
Minister of Commerce and Industry HOSHIJIMA Niro
Minister of Finance ISHIBASHI Tanzan
The electric enterprise law shall partially be amended as follows:
Item 2 and 3 of Article 1 shall read as follows:
2 Enterprises of supply of electricity to the enterprises mentioned in the foregoing item.
Article 15-II Matters pertaining to promotion of efficiency or prevention of danger in regard to electrical instruments, tools and machineries or other electrical appliances shall be provided by order.
Article 15-III In case it is deemed necessary to regulate the demand and supply of electricity, the Minister in charge may order persons concerned in electrical industry or consumers, upon specifying locality, the usage or other necessary items, to enforce restriction of supply or consumption of electricity or to take necessary measures to comply with such restriction.
In Paragraph 2 of Article 16, Article 21 and Paragraph 1 of Article 26-II "of Item 1, or 3 of Article 1" shall be deleted.
Paragraph 2 of Article 17 shall read Paragraph 3 of Article 17, "Electric enterprisers" , in Paragraph 1 of Article 17 shall read "electric enterpriser mentioned in Item 2 of Article 1" , Paragraph 1 of Article 17 shall read Paragraph 2 of Article 17, while the following paragraph shall be inserted as Paragraph 1 of the same Article.
The Minister in charge shall decide the rate of electric charge for electric enterpriser mentioned in Item 1 of Article 1.
Article 18 The resolution pertaining to any change in the amount of capital and disposal of profit concerning electric enterprise, companies mentioned in Inem 1 of Article 1 shall not come into force, unless approval of the competent Minister is obtained.
The appointment of the director or the auditor of the electric enterprise companies mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall not come into force, unless approval of the competent Minister is obtained.
Article 19 Any debenture-holders of electric enterprise company shall have the priority right of claiming repayment of their own credit in regard to the properties of the said company.
The order of the priority right mentioned above shall rank next to the general priority right provided under the provisions of the Civil Code.
Article 24 In case the competent Minister deems it necessary he may, in order to increase the efficiency, of electric facilities or regulate the demand or supply of electricity, order the electric enterprisers or other electricity dealers specified in Paragraph 1 of Article 30 the following Items.
1. Installation, alteration, common use, lease of electrical structures or adjustment of the period of construction works.
2. Production, delivery, receiving of electricity or its consigned transmission.
Allotment of the necessary expenses in regard to the works, or other matters caused by the orders stipulated by above paragraph shall be decided by agreement among electric enterprisers or among electric dealers designated by Paragraph 1 of Article 30. In case successful agreement is not concluded or impossible to make, the competent Minister shall decide.
Article 25-II The electric enterprisers are not to be permitted to transform their enterprising facilities or to make them the object of right exclusive of proprietary right, unless the approval by the competent Minister is obtained as stipulated by ordinance.
"Enterprises stipulated in Item or 3 of Article 1" in Paragraph 1 of Article 29 shall be amended as "Electric enterprises" .
And "Article 35 to Article 38" in Paragraph 2 of Article 31 shall read "Article 34 to Article 37, Article 39 and Article 40."
Article 32 The central Electric Power Committee shall be instituted in order to inquire into and deliberate upon the important matters concerning electric enterprise when these matters are submitted by the compotent Minister or its own initiative prior to such inquiry.
The Central Electric Power Committee may make proposal regarding electric enterprise, to the Ministers of State concerned.
The competent Minister shall consult with this Central Electric Power Committee in regard to important problems among these projected program of generation or transmission of electric power or the decision of amount of charge for electricity or orders or disposal in accordance with the stipulation fixed in Article 15-III, Paragraph 1 of Article 24, Paragraph 1 of Article 26-II or Paragraph 1 of Article 28.
Article 32-II The Central Electric Power Committee shall be made up of members nominated among electric enterprisers (the representative in case of juridical person), employees of electric enterprises, consumers of electricity (the representative in case of juridical person), the members of the House of Peers, the members of the House of Representatives, men of learning and experience and officials of competent government offices, as well as a chairman elected by the members among themselves.
The Central Electric Power Committee may appoint committee members of experts and other necessary officials.
Article 32-III The Local Electric Power Committee shall be instituted to meet the inquring or deliberation submitted by administrative offices concerning adjustment of demand and supply of electricity, popularization of electric power, the improvement of electric installation or the business of electricity supply and management of electric enterprise.
Article 32-IV The Central Electric Power Committee and the Local Electric Power Committee when necessary may request submission of data or inspection thereof by the enterprisers of electricity.
Article 32 V Matters besides stipulated in the preceding four Articles relating to the Central Electric Power Committee and the Local Electric Power Committee shall be provided by the Imperial Ordinance.
Article 34 Any person who carries electrical business without authorization violating provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 3 shall be punished by fine not more than 5,000 yen.
Article 35 Any person who fall within the purview of any one of the following items shall be punished by fine not more than 3,000 yen.
1. Any person who alters important items mentioned in the documents provided in accordance with the Paragraph 1 of Article 3, without permission stipulated in Paragraph 2 of Article 3.
2. Any person who suspends or abolishes the entire or any part of the supply enterprises of electricity without obtaining permission stipulated in Paragraph 1 of Article 16.
3. Any person who transfers the entire or any part of the enterprise without obtaining approval stipulated in Paragraph 1 of Article 25.
4. Any person who commits merger without obtaining approval provided by Article 26.
5. Any person who violates the order issued in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 26-II.
Article 36 Any person who falls within the purview of any one of the following items shall be punished by fine not more than 1,000 yen.
1. Any person who carries on works or uses electrical construction without obtaining approval stipulated in Article 5.
2. Any person who violates the order issued in accordance with the provisions of Article 13, Article 15-II or Paragraph 1 of Article 30 hereof or the order stipulated in Paragraph 3 of Article 17, Paragraph 2 of Article 23 or Paragraph 1 of Article 24.
3. Any person who refuses the supply of electricity violating the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 15.
4. Any person who violates the restriction or order stipulated in the Article 15-III
5. Any person who fixes or changes the rate of electric charge or other terms of supply of electricity without obtaining approval stipulated in Paragraph 2 of Article 17.
6. Any person who engages in other business without approval stipulated in the Article 25-II.
Article 37 Any person who refuses or impedes or evades the examination, fails to submit a report or submits a false report stipulated in Paragraph 1 of Article 23 shall be punished by fine not more than 500 yen.
Article 38 Any person who alters electrical constructions arbitrarily without approval of the electrical enterprisers shall be punished by fine or penalty not more than 500 yen.
Article 39 In case any representative of a juridical person or any deputy, or any head of a family, or any member of a family, or any inmate, or any servant or any other employee commits the offence in relation to the business of the said juridical person or individual as mentioned in Article 34 to the Later part of Article 37, he shall not be exempted from punishment because such action was not directed by them.
Article 40 The penalty provisions of Article 34 to 36 and the later part of Article 37 shall be applied to director or other officers who perform the business of juridical person in case the person liable thereto is a juridical person and in case the person liable thereto is a minor or an incompetent, they shall be applied to the competent legal representative thereto provided;however, they shall not be applied to minor who possessess the same ability of adult in dealing with businesses.
Supplementary Provisions:
The date of enforcement of this Law shall be decided by the Imperial Ordinance respective of each provision.
As to application of the penalty provisions to the act conducted under the original Law prior to the enforcement of this Law, the original Law shall remain valid.
For the time being, the provisions of Article 297 of the Commercial Code shall not be applied to the bonds or debentures issued prior to enforcement of this Law in excess over the amount of payment into the share-capital pursuant to the provisions of Article 19 of the original law.
The Electric Power Control Law shall be partially revised as follows:
The Article 5 shall be deleted.
The Electric Distribution Control Ordinance shall be abolished.
Any joint stock company which carries on its business with the object of performing control of electric distribution enterprises in compliance with the Electric Distribution Control Ordinance in advance of the abolishment of said Ordinance, may, upon obtaining a resolution of the competent shareholders'meeting and approval of the Minister in charge, make necessary revisions of the statute or other procedure in order to become an electrical business company which will not carry on its business on behalf of cotrol of electric distribution business as its object.
The resolution of the preceding paragraph shall not be made unless in accordance with the stipulation provided in Article 343 of the Commercial Code.
In case the application mentioned in Paragraph 6 is wanted it shall attach the copy of the minutes of proceedings of the general meeting of the shareholders to the written application.
In regard to certain fixed amount of money paid, by any joint stock company which carries on with the object of performing control of electric distribution enterprises in compliance with the Electric Distribution Control Ordinance hereinafter called the "Electric Distribution Company" including the one that becomes a joint stock company which will not carry on its business as its object on behalf of control of electric distribution enterprise pursuant to the provisions of Paragraph 6), to the person who has invested or transferred pursuant to the provisions in Paragraph 2 of Article 2, or Paragraph 1, of Article 26 of the said Ordinance, and in regard to the reduction of juridical person tax against the Electric Distrbution Company, the provisions of Article 34 of the said Ordinance shall remain valid even after the enforcement of this Law.
In regard to those properties belonging to economical corporations of factory, railways or street railways that are designated to belong to the original economic corporation in accordance with the provisions of Article 45 of the Electric Distribution Control Ordinance, the provision of this Article shall be in force even after its enforcement.
In regard to the security deposited in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 1 of Article 46 of the Electric Distribution Control Ordinance and the pledge in accordance with Paragraph 2 of the said Article the provisions of the said Article shall remain in force even after the enforcement of this Law.