Power tariff increased by Rs0.52 per unit, adding Rs12.6bn burden on consumers

The government has approved an increase of Rs0.5194 per unit in electricity tariffs, putting an additional financial burden of approximately Rs12.6 billion on power consumers.

 

The increase will be applicable to all consumer categories except lifeline consumers, consumers covered under the Incremental Consumption Package and prepaid users.

 

The quarterly adjustment will be recovered at a uniform rate of Rs0.5194 per kWh over three months, from September through November 2026.

 

During the proceedings, a proposal was made to spread the impact of the quarterly adjustment over four months instead of three. However, the regulator noted that the adjustment determined by NEPRA was around Rs12 billion, substantially below the roughly Rs33 billion sought by distribution companies (DISCOs), and therefore retained the three-month recovery period.

 

The adjustment will also apply to K-Electric consumers at the same rate and for the same three-month period, subject to the specified exemptions.

 

NEPRA directed all DISCOs to submit their quarterly adjustment requests promptly after the end of each quarter to facilitate timely processing.

 

The regulator also instructed distribution companies to provide detailed, category-wise data on quarterly changes in electricity sales, comparing reference sales with actual sales and corresponding figures from the previous year.

 

For industrial consumers, the data must be submitted separately for B1, B2, B3 and B4 categories.

 

NEPRA further directed that future hearings include an assessment of variations in sales and Maximum Demand Indicator (MDI), along with their impact on quarterly adjustment calculations, to improve transparency and provide greater clarity on the underlying data.