How to Read Your Electricity Meter in Pakistan: Digital, TOU & Old Meters (2026)

Your electricity meter records energy in kilowatt-hours (kWh). On a household bill, one kWh is one unit. To calculate usage, compare the same energy register at two different times. The correct starting reading depends on whether you are checking an issued bill or measuring usage since that bill.

Start with the right two readings

Keep your bill beside a dated photograph of your meter. Match the meter number and the register being read. A reading labelled kW, voltage, current or maximum demand is not a cumulative kWh reading.

Units = (ending reading − starting reading) × the applicable meter multiplying factor. Use the factor recorded for your connection. If it is missing or unclear, ask your electricity company to confirm it; do not assume every installation has a factor of one.

The bill fields and special metering situations are described in NEPRA’s Consumer Service Manual, particularly sections 4.3 and 6.4.

A worked example: avoid counting the last month twice

This is an invented example with a multiplying factor of 1:

• Last bill’s Previous Reading: 12,450.
• Last bill’s Present Reading: 12,690.
• Today’s reading: 12,810.

The issued bill covers 12,690 − 12,450 = 240 units. Usage since its reading date is 12,810 − 12,690 = 120 units. Subtracting 12,450 from today’s reading gives 360 units, but that combines both periods and includes the 240 units already recorded on the last bill.

Write down the dates too. A ten-day observation is not a full billing month, and the bill’s issue date may differ from its meter-reading date.

Digital, TOU and older meters

Digital meter: wait for the cumulative kWh screen and record its label or code along with the number. Displays can cycle through several measurements. Use the meter’s model instructions or your supplier’s explanation to identify the correct screen.

Time-of-use meter: calculate peak and off-peak differences separately, using each register’s own starting reading and factor. Do not assume that T1 always means peak or T2 always means off-peak. Confirm the mapping for your meter and account.

For example, 30 peak units plus 180 off-peak units equals 210 total units. Adding the registers is useful for an energy total; calculating a bill amount still requires the applicable rate for each register. See our guide to peak and off-peak bill readings.

Older mechanical meter: copy the cumulative kWh display with its decimal position. For pointer dials or unclear markings, use instructions for that specific meter instead of guessing from a different model. Read through the cover without opening the meter or disturbing seals.

When simple subtraction is not enough

A mismatch needs investigation; it does not by itself prove overbilling. Check for an estimated or average bill, a replaced meter, a changed factor, a display rollover, or separate import and export registers. Keep old and new meter readings separate after a replacement.

NEPRA’s Consumer Service Manual covers average billing and adjustments in specified circumstances. Ask the supplier which method it applied to your account rather than treating an estimate as a physical meter reading.

What to send when the figures do not match

1. Save the issued bill and a clear meter photograph showing the relevant reading and meter number.
2. Record the photograph’s date, the bill’s reading date, both readings and the factor used in your calculation.
3. Identify the specific difference: wrong meter number, wrong register, unclear factor, arithmetic discrepancy or unexplained adjustment.
4. Contact your electricity company’s official support channel and keep the complaint number. Ask for the reading record and an explanation or correction.

Share account details only through the supplier’s official channel. Do not post an unredacted bill in public comments. Choose your company and open its official bill portal to obtain the bill you are checking.