By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABADL: Electricity consumers across Pakistan are set to receive an unusual rebate of about 1.75 rupees per unit on their bills for the next three months as regulators prepare to pass through 63.94 billion rupees in savings from lower capacity payments to power producers.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority has scheduled a public hearing for May 19 to consider a request from the former Wapda distribution companies (Discos) for a quarterly tariff adjustment that would deliver the negative adjustment. The refund stems from actual costs in the first quarter of the calendar year — January through March 2026 — and would apply to bills issued in June, July and August.
The relief comes after the government shifted the annual tariff rebasing process to a calendar-year cycle from the previous fiscal-year basis, effective Jan. 1, 2026. That change has allowed for a more timely reckoning of costs in the power sector, where capacity charges have long been a flashpoint for consumers and producers alike.
Under the quarterly tariff adjustment mechanism, the Discos are seeking to return savings primarily from capacity charges that came in 37 billion rupees lower than anticipated during the quarter. Those gains were partly offset by 4.876 billion rupees in higher operations-and-maintenance expenses and 2.8 billion rupees related to the impact of transmission and distribution losses on monthly fuel-cost adjustments. Additional savings flowed from a 11.24 billion rupee reduction in service charges and market-operator fees, as well as 23.5 billion rupees tied to the government’s incremental consumption package for industrial and agricultural users.
The net 63.94 billion rupee figure translates to the 1.75 rupees-per-unit reduction for three billing cycles. Faisalabad Electric Supply Co. recorded the largest saving at 10.45 billion rupees, followed by Hyderabad Electric Supply Co. at 10.14 billion rupees, Peshawar Electric Supply Co. at 8.63 billion rupees and Lahore Electric Supply Co. at 7.9 billion rupees. Islamabad and Multan electric supply companies sought refunds of 6.37 billion rupees and 6.33 billion rupees, respectively.
Smaller amounts were proposed by Gujranwala (5.1 billion rupees), Tribal (3 billion rupees), Sukkur (2.9 billion rupees), Quetta (2.6 billion rupees) and Hazara (495 million rupees) electric supply companies.
The adjustment will extend to K-Electric Ltd. once approved. However, consumers eligible for the government’s special tariff package on incremental consumption will not see the quarterly adjustment, debt-service surcharge or negative fuel-cost adjustments reflected in their bills.
The rebate will replace a current positive quarterly adjustment of 0.42 rupees per unit that reflected 10.8 billion rupees in higher costs from the October-December 2025 period. That positive charge expires at the end of May, setting up a net reduction of roughly 2.15 rupees per unit for most users once the new negative adjustment takes effect. Any dilution from higher monthly fuel-cost adjustments — driven by expensive imported fuel — could trim the final benefit.
Under Pakistan’s tariff framework, monthly variations in fuel costs are passed through to consumers automatically via fuel-cost adjustments. Quarterly adjustments, by contrast, capture changes in capacity charges, variable operations-and-maintenance costs, use-of-system charges and the impact of transmission and distribution losses; those are later incorporated into the base tariff by the federal government.
The May 19 hearing will give stakeholders a chance to weigh in before Nepra issues a final determination. The outcome is expected to provide the first tangible consumer relief under the new calendar-year tariff regime, offering a modest buffer against what has been a sustained rise in power prices in recent years.
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