ISLAMABAD: Electricity consumers across Pakistan may have to pay about 42 paise per unit extra in their bills from April to June, mainly due to capacity charges paid to power producers for the second quarter of the financial year.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has fixed a public hearing on February 17 after power distribution companies (Discos) asked permission to recover Rs10.83 billion from consumers under the Quarterly Tariff Adjustment (QTA) system. If approved, this will result in a positive QTA of around 42 paise per unit for three months.
At present, consumers are already paying about 33 paise per unit as QTA for the first quarter (July to September 2025). This existing charge will end this month and will be replaced by the new adjustment for the next three months.
The Discos said the increase is mainly due to capacity charges, along with transmission charges, market operator fees, and the impact of the government’s three-year incremental consumption package for industrial and agricultural users. Other factors include transmission and distribution losses, monthly fuel costs, and operation and maintenance expenses for the period from October to December 2025.
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The total impact of capacity charges for the quarter stands at about Rs24.25 billion. However, this amount was partly reduced due to negative adjustments under other heads.
These include savings in variable operation and maintenance (Rs1.65 billion), use of service charges (Rs3 billion), the incremental consumption package (Rs7.5 billion), and fuel cost adjustment impact of system losses (Rs1.2 billion). After these adjustments, the net amount to be recovered from consumers comes down to Rs10.83 billion.
Out of eleven Discos, three companies—Hyderabad, Peshawar, and Quetta—have asked for negative adjustments, amounting to Rs3.5 billion, Rs5.1 billion, and Rs4.1 billion, respectively.
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Meanwhile, Multan Electric has sought the highest increase of Rs5.6 billion, followed by Gujranwala (Rs4.8bn), Islamabad (Rs4.1bn), Lahore (Rs3.7bn), Sukkur (Rs2.9bn), and Faisalabad (Rs1.9bn). The newly formed Tribal Electric and Hazara Electric companies have requested additional recoveries of Rs303 million and Rs140 million.
If approved by Nepra, the QTA will also apply to K-Electric consumers. However, QTAs, Debt Service Surcharge (DSS), and negative Fuel Cost Adjustments (FCA) will not apply to consumers who are eligible under the government’s special tariff package for incremental electricity use.
