Updated: August 2026
You apply for a MEPCO new connection online through MEPCO’s own digital channel, the MEPCO Smart App (and the eOps system behind it), or on paper at your nearest MEPCO Customer Facilitation Centre or sub-division office. MEPCO used to sit on the shared national ENC portal at enc.com.pk, but that portal now carries a notice sending MEPCO applicants to the Smart App, eOps or a facilitation centre instead, so start from MEPCO’s own New Connection page. The application itself is free. You attach roughly half a dozen documents, MEPCO surveys the site, and for a household connection of up to 15 kW it must issue your demand notice within 10 days of a complete application. Pay that notice at a designated bank, and NEPRA’s Consumer Service Manual gives MEPCO 30 days in total to put a meter on your wall. There is no fixed “new meter price”; what you pay is a case-by-case works estimate plus a refundable security deposit.
That is the whole machine. This guide walks through each moving part for applicants across MEPCO’s territory in South Punjab, from Multan and Khanewal down to Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan: exactly which documents to prepare, what the demand notice really costs, whether you need single-phase or three-phase, and what to do when the file stops moving. MEPCO is the largest distribution company in the country by area and consumer count, so a slow sub-division is common; knowing the rulebook is your best lever. If you are on a different company, the process is nearly identical nationwide, and our national ENC portal guide covers the differences.
The process at a glance
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Where to apply | MEPCO Smart App / eOps, the “Apply Online” button on mepco.com.pk, or any MEPCO Customer Facilitation Centre / sub-division office |
| Application fee | None. Forms are free; your first payment is the demand notice |
| Core documents | CNIC (applicant + witness), ownership proof, Rs 50 affidavit, wiring test report; map/NOC for urban houses and shops |
| Demand notice due | Within 10 days of a complete application (up to 15 kW) |
| Total time standard | 30 days for up to 15 kW, per NEPRA Consumer Service Manual (Revised 2025), Annexure III |
| Tracking | MEPCO Smart App / eOps, with your tracking ID or CNIC (no dashes) |
| Help | Complaint helpline 118, SMS 8118, CCMS portal ccms.pitc.com.pk |
Before you apply: single-phase or 3-phase?
The load you declare on the form decides your meter, your tariff and part of your cost, so settle it first.
Single-phase covers the ordinary South Punjab house: lights, fans, fridge, washing machine, one or two inverter ACs. Most homes declare 2 to 4 kW. You stay on normal slab billing, where each month’s units decide your rate. The current MEPCO slabs are in our MEPCO per-unit price guide, and you can put your expected reading through the MEPCO bill calculator before the first bill lands.
Three-phase becomes relevant when your sanctioned load reaches 5 kW. Two consequences follow, and both are written into the rules rather than left to the SDO’s mood:
- At 5 kW and above, time-of-use (TOU) billing is compulsory. Your meter records peak and off-peak units separately, and evening units cost more. The Consumer Service Manual goes further: if a single-phase meter’s recorded load approaches 5 kW, MEPCO is required to serve notice and install a TOU meter. How the peak window works, and whether TOU helps or hurts you, is covered in our peak hours guide.
- Your security deposit and works estimate scale with kilowatts, so over-declaring load costs real money for capacity you never use.
Do not worry about transformer costs at household sizes. Under the manual, residential connections up to 20 kW are fed from the common distribution transformer on your street; a dedicated transformer only enters the picture above that, or when the local transformer has no spare capacity. In parts of rural Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur and DG Khan that sit far from the nearest line, the works estimate can still run higher simply because more cable and a pole or two are needed.
One more option worth knowing: a temporary connection for house construction. It runs for six months, extendable in three-month blocks, with the security deposit set at the estimated cost of the electricity you will consume. When the house is finished you convert to a regular connection and the deposit is adjusted.
Documents for a MEPCO new connection
This list comes from NEPRA’s Consumer Service Manual, Revised 2025, the rulebook every DISCO including MEPCO must follow. MEPCO also publishes the blank form and its document checklist on the new connection page of its own website.
| Document | Notes for MEPCO applicants |
|---|---|
| Attested CNIC copy of applicant | Plus an attested CNIC copy of one witness |
| Ownership proof | Registry, fard from the patwari or land record centre, allotment letter or sale deed, as accepted by MEPCO for your area |
| Affidavit on Rs 50 stamp paper | States that no connection existed at the premises before, that you will pay any old dues later discovered, and that you are not a defaulter of any DISCO |
| Wiring test report | Issued by the Electric Inspector or an authorised wiring contractor, so the house wiring must be complete before you apply |
| Approved map / site plan / NOC | Required for urban houses and shops; MEPCO can relax it in rural areas where no civic-agency approval applies. Homes inside approved societies are exempt |
| Tenant papers (if renting) | Owner’s NOC, the owner’s CNIC copy, plus the owner’s own stamp-paper undertaking accepting responsibility if the tenant defaults |
| Company papers (if applicable) | Incorporation certificate, board resolution authorising a signatory, directors’ list with CNIC copies |
Three MEPCO-specific notes. First, the affidavit is not a formality: if you turn out to be a defaulter on another connection anywhere in the country, MEPCO can disconnect you after a seven-day notice. Second, the map/NOC line generates more rejections in Multan, Bahawalpur and Sahiwal cities than any other, because plots carved out of unapproved private schemes cannot produce one; sort this out before you pay a wiring contractor. Third, in the agricultural belt around Vehari, Lodhran and Khanewal, ownership proof through a fresh fard from the patwari is often the slowest single step, so start it early. If the property has co-owners, bring their written no-objection; ownership disputes freeze files indefinitely.
The blank application form is downloadable from MEPCO’s own New Connection page, and staff at the Customer Facilitation Centre will hand you specimen wordings for the NOC and the stamp-paper undertakings if you ask.
How to apply online: step by step
- Open the MEPCO Smart App, or use the Apply Online button on MEPCO’s New Connection page that leads into its online system. Prefer paper? Download the PDF form from that same page, or pick one up free at your Customer Facilitation Centre or sub-division office.
- Pick your sub-division and category — domestic, commercial, industrial, agricultural or temporary supply. The quickest way to land on the right sub-division is to enter the 14-digit reference number from a neighbour’s MEPCO bill, which pins your feeder and tariff area automatically.
- Fill in the form: name, father’s name, CNIC without dashes, mobile number, premises address, tariff category and the load you are requesting in kW. Declare load honestly; the wiring test report has to back it up.
- Upload scans of the documents from the table above.
- Submit and save your tracking ID. You get an acknowledgement with a serial number; the manual obliges MEPCO to tell you, by letter, email, phone or online, if anything is missing rather than sitting on the file.
- Site survey. A MEPCO surveyor checks whether supply is feasible at your premises and whether the street transformer has capacity. For connections up to 15 kW the registration, survey and test-report verification are budgeted 4 days.
- Demand notice issued. Cost estimate preparation and issuance get another 6 days, which is why a complete Category-1 application must produce a demand notice by day 10. It reaches you by registered post, courier or your MEPCO app account, and you can also collect it in person from the sub-division.
- Pay the demand notice (details in the next section), then hand the stamped bank receipt to your sub-division so the payment registers against your file.
- Works order and material. MEPCO issues the service connection order, draws cable, poles and hardware from stores, and executes the work: 11 days in the standard for small connections.
- Meter installation. The final 9 days cover installing your new meter and energising the connection. The meter is supplied at your cost through the estimate; the upside, fixed in the manual, is that no monthly meter rent can be charged afterwards.
Prefer paper start to finish? The same form is free at your Customer Facilitation Centre or sub-division office, and staff are required to help you fill it. Everything else, including the deadlines, works the same.
What a MEPCO new connection costs
There is no flat MEPCO connection fee. Ignore the single-figure “new meter price” quoted on unofficial bill-checking sites; no such number exists in any official schedule. Your demand notice is built case by case from two stacks:
1. Capital cost / connection charges. The actual material needed to connect your premises (service cable, hardware, the meter itself), priced at store issue rates plus 12% store handling, plus 8% installation charges. A house next to an existing pole in central Multan needs very little; a farmhouse on the edge of a village in Rajanpur or Layyah needs more. The manual requires MEPCO to attach the complete itemised estimate to the demand notice, so if yours arrives as a bare total, ask for the bill of quantities; you are entitled to it.
2. Security deposit. Refundable, payable per kilowatt of sanctioned load, at rates fixed in Annexure IV of the Consumer Service Manual (Revised 2025):
| Consumer class | Security deposit |
|---|---|
| Residential (A-1), urban | Rs 1,220 per kW |
| Residential (A-1), rural | Rs 610 per kW |
| Commercial (A-2), urban | Rs 1,810 per kW |
| Commercial (A-2), rural | Rs 920 per kW |
| Industrial (B-1) | Rs 1,580 per kW |
| Agricultural tube-well (D) | Rs 15,000 lump sum |
So a 4 kW urban house in Bahawalpur puts down Rs 4,880 as its deposit; the works estimate on top depends entirely on your street. Two protections are worth memorising. If material prices rise while MEPCO is still inside its installation window, residential applicants up to 20 kW and commercial applicants up to 15 kW cannot be charged escalation. And you may request payment of the demand notice in installments, on which the manual forbids any mark-up.
Once the meter starts spinning, your monthly cost is a different subject. Run your expected units through the MEPCO bill calculator to see the full bill with taxes before your first one arrives.
Paying the demand notice
The demand notice reaches you by registered post, courier or your MEPCO app account, and you can also collect it in person from the sub-division. From issuance you have 30 days to pay, and you can get one 30-day grace extension if you request it at least three days before the deadline. Let it lapse and the file dies; you start over.
Where to pay:
- Designated bank branches. The notice itself names the banks authorised to collect it and the due date. Deposit there, keep the stamped receipt, and hand a copy to the sub-division so your payment is registered.
- Online, where enabled. If MEPCO has switched on online demand-notice payment for your case through its app, you can pay there instead. If that option does not appear, the bank counter always works.
Payment is the pivot of the whole process. Your final priority number for connection is assigned only after the demand notice is paid, and MEPCO’s remaining deadlines count from full payment.
How long it really takes
The current standard, from Annexure III of NEPRA’s Consumer Service Manual (Revised 2025):
| Category | Load | Sanctioning officer | Standard time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Up to 15 kW | SDO / AM | 30 days |
| 2 | Above 15 up to 70 kW | XEN / DM | 44 days |
| 3 | Above 70 up to 500 kW | SE / Manager | 58 days |
| 4 | Above 500 up to 5,000 kW (11/33 kV) | CEO | 106 days |
| 5 | 66 kV and above | CEO | 496 days |
These figures are for individual connections. If you see different day counts elsewhere, check which edition of the manual the guide is quoting; the Revised 2025 CSM is the one in force.
Now the honest part. These clocks run from a complete application: the survey step already assumes your wiring test report is in the file, and every missing document pauses everything without technically breaching the standard. Where MEPCO applications genuinely stall, it is usually the demand notice sitting unpaid, an overloaded rural feeder that needs augmentation on cost-deposit basis, or material shortages at the divisional store. The manual gives you a lever: for every day beyond the standard, MEPCO must record its reasons in writing to you, with a copy to NEPRA, and the delay does not cancel its obligation to connect you. Asking your SDO, politely and in writing, for those recorded reasons has a way of reviving sleepy files.
Tracking your application and who to contact
Track online: open the MEPCO Smart App (or the eOps link on MEPCO’s site), choose New Connection tracking, then enter either your tracking ID or your CNIC without dashes. The same option serves name, load and tariff-change cases.
MEPCO’s live contact channels. The universal complaint number for MEPCO, as with every PITC-served distribution company, is 118 by phone and 8118 by SMS; the same complaints run through the shared CCMS portal at ccms.pitc.com.pk. MEPCO’s own website publishes a contact line, 0319-9757789, and a complaint email, rcc@mepco.com.pk, with the head office at Khanewal Road, Multan.
| Channel | Detail |
|---|---|
| Complaint helpline (call) | 118 |
| Complaint by SMS | 8118 |
| Online complaints | ccms.pitc.com.pk |
| MEPCO contact line | 0319-9757789 |
| Complaint email | rcc@mepco.com.pk |
| Head office | Khanewal Road, Multan |
For a circle or sub-division office number in your own district, MEPCO publishes downloadable telephone directories on its contact page; these are the numbers to trust rather than the ones floating around on third-party sites. If a complaint about your application goes nowhere at the sub-division, our electricity complaint helplines guide maps the escalation ladder from SDO up to NEPRA’s consumer affairs office.
Why applications get rejected or stuck
- Incomplete documents. The most common cause by far. MEPCO must inform you what is missing, but the clock effectively restarts when you supply it.
- No approvable map or NOC. Urban houses and shops need one unless an exemption applies. Plots in unapproved schemes on the edges of Multan, Bahawalpur and Sahiwal hit this wall; homes inside approved societies are exempt by rule.
- Ownership disputes. Contested inheritance, missing fard, or co-owners who refuse consent. MEPCO will not arbitrate; it simply parks the file.
- Old dues on the premises. Your affidavit binds you to pay any previously undiscovered arrears, and in practice a sub-division will not move a new file while a theft detection bill against the premises sits unpaid.
- Feeder or transformer capacity. If the local transformer is full, your connection may wait for augmentation, or you may be offered capacity on cost-deposit or sharing-charge terms. This is more common on stretched rural feeders in DG Khan, Rajanpur and Muzaffargarh.
- Failed or mismatched wiring test. The declared load must match what the Electric Inspector’s report supports.
- Expired demand notice. Thirty days, one extension. After that, a fresh application.
- Court restraining orders. Some areas carry blanket orders against new connections; MEPCO is required to check before energising.
If MEPCO concludes it cannot serve your premises at all, ask for that decision and its reasons in writing. The Consumer Service Manual makes MEPCO answerable for delays in writing, with a copy to NEPRA, and that paper trail is what lets you escalate to NEPRA’s consumer affairs office if the refusal looks wrong.
From kunda to a legal meter
If the premises currently runs on a kunda, the legal route is simply the process above: a normal new-connection application, with your Rs 50 affidavit covering any dues later found against the address. There is no published amnesty or regularisation scheme in force as of August 2026, so be wary of anyone offering to “convert” a kunda for a fee outside official channels. Where a theft case or detection bill already exists against the premises, expect to settle it at the sub-division before the new file moves. MEPCO runs frequent anti-theft drives across its region, and a metered connection with a paid demand notice is the cheaper path in every month after the first.
After the meter goes in
Three small chores finish the job properly. Register your CNIC and mobile number against the new reference number so bills and SMS alerts reach you. Learn to pull your bill online the moment the first one is issued; our MEPCO bill check guide shows how, and if the printed bill has not arrived yet you can still find it without the reference number. And set up how you will pay the MEPCO bill online so the first due date never slips past you.
Applying under a different company, or helping family in another region? The same national portal and rulebook serve every DISCO, and our all-DISCOs hub links the bill and connection guides for each company in Pakistan.
FAQs
How much does a MEPCO new connection cost in 2026?
There is no fixed fee. Your demand notice adds two amounts: the actual cost of material and works for your premises (material at store rates plus 12% store handling plus 8% installation charges) and a refundable security deposit of Rs 1,220 per kW for urban homes or Rs 610 per kW for rural homes. A 4 kW urban house therefore deposits Rs 4,880 as security, while the works portion depends on how far your premises is from the existing line.
How long does a MEPCO new connection take?
NEPRA’s Consumer Service Manual (Revised 2025) allows 30 days in total for connections up to 15 kW, counted on a complete application: demand notice within 10 days, works order and material within the next 11, and meter installation in the final 9. Larger connections get 44 days (up to 70 kW) or 58 days (up to 500 kW). If MEPCO exceeds the standard, it must give you day-by-day written reasons with a copy to NEPRA.
How do I apply for a MEPCO new connection online?
Apply through the MEPCO Smart App or the Apply Online button on MEPCO’s New Connection page at mepco.com.pk, pick your sub-division (entering a neighbour’s reference number sets this automatically), fill in your CNIC, load and address, upload your documents, and submit to get a tracking ID. MEPCO has moved new-connection applications off the shared enc.com.pk portal to its own app and eOps system. You can also submit the paper form free at any MEPCO Customer Facilitation Centre or sub-division office.
What is a MEPCO demand notice and how long is it valid?
The demand notice is MEPCO’s payment demand covering your connection’s capital cost and security deposit, issued after the site survey. It is valid for 30 days, and you can request one 30-day grace extension at least three days before it expires. It reaches you by post, courier or your MEPCO app account, and you pay at the designated banks named on the notice, or online where MEPCO has enabled it. If it lapses unpaid, you must apply again.
Do I need a 3-phase MEPCO connection for my new meter?
Only if your sanctioned load is 5 kW or more, which typically means several non-inverter ACs, a tube-well or workshop machinery. At 5 kW and above, time-of-use billing becomes compulsory, so evening units cost more than daytime units. Most houses declare 2 to 4 kW and stay on an ordinary single-phase meter with slab billing.
How do I check my MEPCO new connection application status?
Open the MEPCO Smart App or the eOps link on MEPCO’s site, choose New Connection tracking, then enter your tracking ID or your CNIC without dashes to see the stage your file has reached. For queries the complaint helpline is 118 by phone and 8118 by SMS, or the shared CCMS portal at ccms.pitc.com.pk; MEPCO also lists 0319-9757789 and rcc@mepco.com.pk on its website.
Can I get a temporary MEPCO connection for construction?
Yes. A construction connection is granted for six months initially and can be extended in three-month blocks until the project finishes. The security deposit equals the estimated cost of electricity you will use during the period, and it is refunded on disconnection or adjusted if you convert the temporary connection into a regular one.