Nepra Raises Industrial Power Tariff to Rs25.30 Per Unit Despite Dissent — All Consumers to Pay Extra Rs2.37 in November Bills (7 November 2026)

 

Pakistan's power regulator has raised the industrial electricity tariff, and the decision itself was so contested that the regulator's own chairman had to use his casting vote to push it through.

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) announced on Friday that the rate under its incremental support package for industrial consumers will rise from Rs22.98 to Rs25.30 per unit. The authority was split 2-2 on the matter, and Chairman Waseem Mukhtar exercised his second and casting vote in favour of the revised rate, breaking the deadlock.

Two members of the regulator strongly opposed the move. Member Tariff Amina Ahmed and Member Development Maqsood Anwar, in a joint dissenting note, called the Rs25.30 figure a "random number" unsupported by evidence. They pointed out that Nepra's own calculations put the actual marginal cost of supplying the extra electricity at Rs31.83 per unit, not Rs25.30, and they recommended suspending the package altogether until authentic data was available.

The package at the centre of the dispute was introduced in December last year at Rs22.98 per unit as an incentive to revive industrial activity. Industrialists have been protesting against it since May, saying it failed to benefit them and instead pushed their electricity bills higher. The package was due for a review after its first six months in June, but that review was never properly carried out. All four members of the regulator agreed that the Power Division failed to fulfil its legal obligations within the prescribed timelines, despite repeated reminders from Nepra.

The dissenting members also warned that the package's cost is quietly falling on everyone else. Because the extra industrial consumption raised the system's average fuel cost, that impact has been recovered from all consumers through the fuel cost adjustment mechanism. And because the incremental units are excluded from quarterly tariff adjustments, the quarterly adjustment borne by consumers who do not use the package has gone up as well.

There is more in the November bills for every household and business. Nepra has also allowed power distribution companies to charge an additional Rs2.37 per unit in November bills under the monthly fuel cost adjustment, to recover an extra Rs25 billion. The burden applies to all consumers, including those served by K-Electric and the other distribution companies.

The regulator has now set deadlines for the Power Division and its entities to provide the missing calculations. It has warned that failure to meet the deadlines could lead to the programme being suspended or terminated, and to legal proceedings against the entities that fail to comply. Chairman Mukhtar said the dissenting members' conclusions "need serious consideration", but added that suspending the package at this stage would not be appropriate and that the Ministry of Energy should be given another opportunity to provide the information repeatedly sought from it.

In short: industry will pay Rs2.32 more per unit under the support package, and every electricity consumer in the country will see an extra Rs2.37 per unit in the November bill.

Source: Dawn.

---

ROMAN URDU VERSION:

Nepra ne industrial bijli ka tariff Rs22.98 se barha kar Rs25.30 fi unit kar diya hai — aur ye faisla itna mutanazia tha ke chairman Waseem Mukhtar ko apna casting vote istemal karna para, kyunke regulator ke members 2-2 se taqseem thay. Member Tariff Amina Ahmed aur Member Development Maqsood Anwar ne Rs25.30 ko "random number" kaha, kyunke Nepra ke apne hisab se asal marginal cost Rs31.83 fi unit banti hai; unhon ne package ko foran suspend karne ki sifarish ki thi.

Ye package December mein Rs22.98 fi unit par industry ko faida dene ke liye shuru hua tha, lekin industrialists May se ehtijaj kar rahe hain ke is se unke bill barh gaye. June mein hone wala review bhi theek se nahi hua, aur regulator ke tamam chaar members ne Power Division ko waqt par qanooni zimmedariyan poori na karne ka zimmedar thehraya hai.

Aam sarfeen par bhi asar parega: Nepra ne November ke billon mein fuel cost adjustment ke tehet mazeed Rs2.37 fi unit charge karne ki ijazat de di hai, taake Rs25 arab wasool kiye ja sakein — ye bojh K-Electric samait tamam sarfeen par parega. Regulator ne data dene ke liye deadline bhi de di hai, aur kaha hai ke deadline poori na hui to programme suspend ya khatam ho sakta hai aur qanooni karwai bhi ho sakti hai.

Source: Dawn.