Updated: August 2026
NEPRA (the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority) is Pakistan’s independent power regulator, and the NEPRA tariff 2026 is the electricity rate it determined and the government then notified into law. For 2026, NEPRA fixed a national average of Rs 33.38 per unit, restructured through SRO 279(I)/2026 effective 12 February 2026, and every distribution company bills that same uniform schedule.
This guide walks the path a rupee travels before it reaches your bill: who calculates the rate, who signs it into force, why Peshawar and Lahore pay the identical slab price, and how the figure keeps moving after it is set. It also decodes NEPRA, SRO, FCA, QTA, CPPA-G and DISCO along the way.
For the full stacked price of one unit after every tax and adjustment, see our pillar on the electricity per unit price in Pakistan. This page is about who sets that price and how.
Key takeaways
- NEPRA set Pakistan’s national average tariff for 2026 at Rs 33.38 per unit, 62 paisa lower than the Rs 34.00 previously in force.
- The government, not NEPRA, notifies the rate you pay. The Power Division turns NEPRA’s determination into law through a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO); the current one is SRO 279(I)/2026, effective 12 February 2026.
- One uniform tariff applies to all 10 ex-WAPDA DISCOs, so LESCO, PESCO and IESCO charge the same domestic slab rates; K-Electric is aligned to the same consumer-end schedule.
- Your bill keeps moving after the base is set, monthly via the Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA) and quarterly via the Quarterly Tariff Adjustment (QTA), on top of a base rebased once a year.
- The next annual rebasing is due by 15 January 2027, and a review petition against the 2026 per-kilowatt fixed charges is pending before NEPRA.
What is NEPRA and what does it actually do?
NEPRA is the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, the statutory regulator that sets electricity prices and licenses power companies across Pakistan. The NEPRA Act of 1997 created it to move tariff-setting from the utilities to an independent authority. In plain terms, NEPRA is the referee: it decides what a unit of electricity (bijli) is allowed to cost.
NEPRA does not send you a bill and does not own a single power plant or wire. Its job is to examine the costs the power sector claims (fuel, capacity payments, transmission and distribution losses, company margins), hold public hearings, and then determine a tariff it considers fair and cost-reflective. That determination is a legal document, but not yet the rate on your bill: the government has to notify it first.
NEPRA also approves the monthly and quarterly adjustments, licenses generators and distributors, sets rules like the 2026 Prosumer (net-billing) Regulations, and hears complaints. It is based in Islamabad and publishes its determinations at nepra.org.pk.
How is the electricity tariff set in Pakistan?
The electricity tariff in Pakistan is set through a four-step chain: NEPRA determines the rate, the federal government’s Power Division notifies it via an SRO, all distribution companies apply that uniform rate, and monthly and quarterly adjustments then move it up or down. No single body does all of this, which is why “who decides the electricity price in Pakistan” has no one-word answer.
Here is the sequence in order:
- CPPA-G files the request. The Central Power Purchasing Agency (Guarantee) Limited buys electricity for the distribution companies and files the petitions that start a tariff or fuel-adjustment case.
- NEPRA determines the tariff. After public hearings, NEPRA issues a determination: the cost-based national average tariff and the class-wise breakdown. For 2026 that average is Rs 33.38 per unit.
- The government notifies it. The Power Division, under the Ministry of Energy, converts the determination into the consumer schedule (applying subsidies so light users pay less than cost) and publishes it as a Statutory Regulatory Order, which makes the rate binding on your bill.
- DISCOs bill the uniform tariff. All ten ex-WAPDA distribution companies apply the same notified schedule. K-Electric runs on its own determination but is aligned to the same consumer-end tariff.
After the base is set, three cycles keep it current: the monthly Fuel Cost Adjustment, the Quarterly Tariff Adjustment, and the annual rebasing, all covered below. They are why your per-unit rate is never quite the same two months running.
What is SRO 279(I)/2026 and what did it change?
SRO 279(I)/2026 is the Statutory Regulatory Order, dated 12 February 2026, through which the federal government notified NEPRA’s restructured domestic electricity tariff. An SRO is the legal instrument a ministry uses to bring a regulator’s decision into force, and SRO 279 governs what most Pakistani households pay in 2026.
SRO 279 did three things that show up directly on your bill:
- It restructured the slabs and cut the upper rates. The domestic ladder now runs from Rs 3.95 per unit (lifeline) to Rs 47.20 per unit (above 700 units). The top slabs were trimmed from the previous schedule, so the old Rs 47.69, Rs 42.76 and Rs 41.62 per-unit figures you may still see on rate-checker websites are superseded by the current Rs 47.20 ceiling.
- It kept landing-slab billing for unprotected homes. An unprotected household is billed for the whole month at the single rate of the slab its total lands in, with no lower-slab discount; protected consumers keep the telescopic previous-slab benefit. The full mechanism is in our electricity tariff slabs guide.
- It added a per-kilowatt fixed charge. Unprotected consumers now pay Rs 275 to Rs 675 per kilowatt of sanctioned load each month, set by their consumption slab; protected homes pay Rs 200 to Rs 300 per kW, and lifeline consumers are exempt. A minimum monthly charge of Rs 75 (single-phase) or Rs 150 (three-phase) applies to every domestic connection. This per-kilowatt fixed charge is what drew the review petition below.
SRO 279 is the government’s notification of NEPRA’s underlying rationalization decision of 11 February 2026.
What is the NEPRA base tariff for 2026?
The NEPRA base tariff for 2026, called the determined national average tariff, is Rs 33.38 per unit. NEPRA issued this determination on 7 January 2026, 62 paisa lower than the Rs 34.00 previously determined for the sector. It is the anchor for the whole schedule, not the rate any single household actually pays.
The gap between the base tariff and your bill is deliberate. The Rs 33.38 is a national average across all consumer classes; cross-subsidy charges lifeline and protected homes far below it (from Rs 3.95) and industry above it, and the financing-cost surcharge (Rs 3.23/unit), duty and 18% GST lift a 300-unit home’s real cost to roughly Rs 43 to Rs 44 per unit before the quarterly QTA credit. That stack is in our taxes on your electricity bill guide, and official DISCO pages such as IESCO’s tariff guide publish the class-wise schedule.
What are the 2026 domestic electricity tariff slab rates?
The 2026 domestic electricity tariff, notified by SRO 279(I)/2026, runs from Rs 3.95 per unit for lifeline users to Rs 47.20 per unit above 700 units, with a per-kilowatt fixed charge on top. The table below lists the unprotected (non-protected) per-unit rates and fixed charges that most Pakistani households are billed in 2026.
| Monthly units | Unprotected rate (Rs/unit) | Fixed charge (Rs/kW/month) |
|---|---|---|
| 1–100 | 22.44 | 275 |
| 101–200 | 28.91 | 300 |
| 201–300 | 33.10 | 350 |
| 301–400 | 36.46 | 400 |
| 401–500 | 38.95 | 500 |
| 501–600 | 40.22 | 675 |
| 601–700 | 41.85 | 675 |
| Above 700 | 47.20 | 675 |
Protected consumers, homes that stayed at or below 200 units for the past six months, pay much less: Rs 10.54 per unit up to 100 units and Rs 13.01 for 101 to 200 units, with a Rs 200 to Rs 300 per-kW fixed charge. Lifeline consumers, at or below 100 units for a full year, pay Rs 3.95 per unit up to 50 units and Rs 7.74 for 51 to 100 units, and are exempt from the fixed charge. A minimum monthly charge of Rs 75 (single-phase) or Rs 150 (three-phase) applies to every domestic connection.
An unprotected home is billed on a landing-slab basis, meaning the whole month is charged at the single slab rate its total lands in, so a 200-unit unprotected bill is 200 units × Rs 28.91 = Rs 5,782 in energy charge. A protected home keeps the telescopic one-previous-slab benefit, so 200 protected units cost (100 × Rs 10.54) + (100 × Rs 13.01) = Rs 2,355. Our electricity tariff slabs guide works through the full mechanism, and the electricity bill calculator applies these exact rates.
What is the difference between the determined tariff and the consumer-end tariff?
The determined tariff is the cost-based rate NEPRA calculates and hands to the government; the consumer-end tariff is the subsidised, class-wise schedule the government actually notifies and bills. They are not the same number, and confusing the two is the most common mistake in power-tariff reporting.
| Feature | Determined tariff | Consumer-end tariff |
|---|---|---|
| Who produces it | NEPRA (the regulator) | Power Division (the government), via SRO |
| What it represents | Cost-reflective national average | What you are billed after subsidy |
| 2026 figure | Rs 33.38/unit (average) | Rs 3.95 to Rs 47.20/unit (by slab) |
| Includes federal subsidy? | No | Yes, funded by the government |
| Legally binding on your bill? | No, it is a determination | Yes, once notified by SRO |
The gap between the two columns is the government-funded subsidy, which is why a rise in NEPRA’s determined average often does not move your own slab rate.
Who are the bodies that decide your electricity price?
Six separate organisations touch the price of electricity in Pakistan before it reaches your meter, and each has a fixed job that is routinely confused for another’s.
| Body | Full name | Its role in your bill |
|---|---|---|
| NEPRA | National Electric Power Regulatory Authority | Determines the tariff; approves adjustments; licenses companies |
| Power Division | Power Division, Ministry of Energy | Notifies NEPRA’s tariff into law through an SRO |
| CPPA-G | Central Power Purchasing Agency (Guarantee) Ltd | Buys power for the DISCOs; files the fuel and tariff petitions |
| DISCOs | The 10 ex-WAPDA distribution companies | Meter you and issue the monthly bill (LESCO, MEPCO, IESCO, etc.) |
| K-Electric | K-Electric Limited | Bills Karachi separately, on the same uniform consumer schedule |
| PITC | Power Information Technology Company | Runs the shared billing system and bill.pitc.com.pk / CCMS |
Two more sit in the background. WAPDA (Water and Power Development Authority) is the legacy body that once ran the sector and now mainly runs hydropower dams; the ten DISCOs are its unbundled distribution arms, hence “ex-WAPDA.” AEDB (Alternative Energy Development Board) runs the solar and net-metering framework, covered in our net metering in Pakistan guide.
What do the acronyms NEPRA, SRO, FCA, QTA, DISCO and CPPA-G mean?
Pakistani electricity bills and tariff news are dense with acronyms, and most describe either a body or an adjustment. This glossary defines each one as it is used on a 2026 bill.
| Acronym | Stands for | Meaning in one line |
|---|---|---|
| SRO | Statutory Regulatory Order | The government notification that makes a tariff legally binding |
| FCA / FPA | Fuel Cost Adjustment / Fuel Price Adjustment | Monthly line that settles actual fuel cost from two months earlier |
| QTA / QTR | Quarterly Tariff Adjustment | Quarterly true-up for capacity, O&M and system charges |
| TOU | Time of Use | Meter that bills by peak/off-peak clock time, not slabs |
NEPRA, DISCO and CPPA-G are defined in the bodies table above. FCA and FPA are the same monthly fuel adjustment under two labels, explained in full in our FPA in the electricity bill guide.
How does the tariff keep changing after NEPRA sets it?
The base tariff NEPRA sets once a year is not the final word: three separate adjustment cycles keep moving the per-unit rate between rebasings, which is why your rate drifts month to month even when no new tariff was announced.
The monthly Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA). Each month, CPPA-G reconciles what fuel actually cost against what the base tariff assumed, NEPRA approves the difference, and it appears on your bill as a plus or minus figure, usually two months in arrears. Cheap fuel makes it a credit, a spike makes it a charge, and lifeline and prepaid consumers are exempt.
The Quarterly Tariff Adjustment (QTA/QTR). Every quarter, NEPRA settles variations in power-purchase price, capacity payments, O&M, use-of-system charges and transmission losses, and the government folds the result into the base tariff. For the June to August 2026 billing quarter, the QTA is a credit of Rs 1.9857 per unit, so it lowers most bills slightly.
The annual rebasing. Once a year, NEPRA rebuilds the base tariff from scratch, which is what produced the Rs 33.38 average for 2026. From 2026 that rebasing moved from a July (fiscal-year) cycle to a January (calendar-year) cycle. A Rs 3.23 per unit financing-cost surcharge also runs on top, on every slab except lifeline.
Stacked together, these can push a household’s real per-unit cost several rupees off the printed slab rate, which is why our electricity bill calculator applies the current adjustments rather than the bare slab figure.
Does every DISCO charge the same NEPRA tariff?
Yes. Under the uniform tariff policy, all ten ex-WAPDA distribution companies charge domestic consumers the identical slab schedule notified by SRO 279, so a protected home using 200 units pays the same energy charge on LESCO in Lahore, PESCO in Peshawar or HESCO in Hyderabad. The uniform tariff is a deliberate cross-subsidy that keeps cheaper-to-serve regions from paying less than costlier ones.
Two things still vary slightly: the fuel adjustment and provincial electricity duty differ month to month, and K-Electric is billed under its own NEPRA determination while applying the same uniform consumer-end rates, so Karachi pays the same domestic slabs as everyone else. Check your own company from the all-DISCOs hub.
The line that genuinely changes your bill is not the DISCO, it is your status: protected versus unprotected. That classification moves a 200-unit energy charge from Rs 2,355 to Rs 5,782, and it is set by your own six-month meter history, not your utility. Our protected vs unprotected consumers guide explains how to hold the cheaper status.
What is the 2026 tariff timeline?
The 2026 tariff was not a single event but a run of decisions across January and February 2026, with the next reset scheduled for January 2027. These are the actions that produced the rates in force in August 2026.
| Date | Who | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 7 Jan 2026 | NEPRA | Determined the national average tariff for CY2026 at Rs 33.38/unit, down 62 paisa from Rs 34.00 |
| 12 Jan 2026 | NEPRA | Decided the federal government’s motion for a uniform consumer-end tariff |
| 13 Jan 2026 | Power Division | Notified the base consumer-end tariff for the DISCOs and K-Electric through a batch of Statutory Regulatory Orders |
| 9 Feb 2026 | NEPRA | Notified the Prosumer Regulations, shifting new rooftop solar from net metering to net billing |
| 11 Feb 2026 | NEPRA | Rationalization decision: landing-slab billing plus per-kW fixed charges for DISCOs and K-Electric |
| 12 Feb 2026 | Power Division | Notified SRO 279(I)/2026, the restructured domestic schedule now in force |
| 15 Jan 2027 | NEPRA (scheduled) | Next annual rebasing, under the new calendar-year cycle |
The shift from a July to a January rebasing, effective 1 January 2026, is the structural change behind this calendar: the big annual reset now lands in mid-January.
Is the 2026 NEPRA tariff final, or can it still change?
The 2026 NEPRA tariff is in force but not fully settled. The rate on your August 2026 bill is legally binding, but two open matters could revise it before the 2027 rebasing.
The fixed-charge review petition. A group of consumers, led by former interior minister Lt Gen (retd) Moin ud Din Haider, filed a review plea asking NEPRA to recall the 11 February 2026 decision that imposed the per-kilowatt fixed charges. The petition, reported by Business Recorder, seeks suspension of the charges, publication of NEPRA’s cost-of-service data and an affordability assessment. Until it is decided, the fixed charge stays on every non-lifeline domestic bill.
A possible tariff-relief package. Through mid-2026 the government discussed further per-unit relief within the subsidy cap agreed with the IMF. Any such package would arrive as a fresh SRO, so treat SRO 279 as current and check your DISCO or the NEPRA site before assuming a newer figure. The next scheduled reset is the annual rebasing due by 15 January 2027, which will replace the Rs 33.38 average with a calendar-year 2027 base.
FAQs
What is the NEPRA tariff for 2026?
The NEPRA tariff for 2026 is a determined national average of Rs 33.38 per unit, restructured into a consumer schedule by SRO 279(I)/2026 effective 12 February 2026. Domestic consumers pay class-wise slab rates from Rs 3.95 per unit (lifeline) to Rs 47.20 per unit (above 700 units), the same across every distribution company.
Who decides the electricity price in Pakistan?
No single body decides it. NEPRA, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, determines the cost-based tariff after public hearings. The federal government’s Power Division then notifies it as a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO), which makes the rate legally binding, and the distribution companies (DISCOs) apply that uniform tariff to your bill.
What is the difference between NEPRA and a DISCO?
NEPRA is the regulator that sets electricity tariffs and licenses power companies; it never sends you a bill. A DISCO (distribution company) such as LESCO, MEPCO or IESCO is the utility that meters your home and issues the monthly bill using the rate NEPRA determined and the government notified. NEPRA sets the price, the DISCO collects it.
What is SRO 279 in the electricity tariff?
SRO 279(I)/2026 is the government notification, dated 12 February 2026, that put NEPRA’s restructured 2026 domestic tariff into force. It trimmed the upper slab rates (the top slab is now Rs 47.20 per unit), kept landing-slab billing for unprotected consumers, and added a per-kilowatt fixed charge of up to Rs 675 per kW of sanctioned load, with lifeline consumers exempt.
Why does my bill change if the NEPRA base tariff was fixed for the year?
The base tariff is only the starting point. Your per-unit rate then moves monthly through the Fuel Cost Adjustment (FCA), which settles actual fuel costs, and quarterly through the Quarterly Tariff Adjustment (QTA), a credit of Rs 1.9857 per unit for June to August 2026. These adjustments sit on top of the base and are why the rate drifts between annual rebasings.
When will the NEPRA tariff change next?
The next scheduled change is the annual rebasing due by 15 January 2027, when NEPRA will rebuild the base tariff for calendar year 2027 under the new January cycle. Before then, the pending review petition against the 2026 fixed charges or a government relief package could trigger a fresh SRO that revises the schedule earlier.
What are the 2026 electricity tariff slab rates in Pakistan?
The 2026 domestic electricity slab rates notified by SRO 279(I)/2026 are, for unprotected consumers, Rs 22.44 per unit up to 100 units, Rs 28.91 for 101 to 200, Rs 33.10 for 201 to 300, Rs 36.46 for 301 to 400, Rs 38.95 for 401 to 500, Rs 40.22 for 501 to 600, Rs 41.85 for 601 to 700, and Rs 47.20 above 700 units. Protected consumers pay Rs 10.54 and Rs 13.01 per unit, lifeline users pay Rs 3.95 and Rs 7.74, and every non-lifeline home also pays a per-kilowatt fixed charge.
Check what the 2026 tariff means for your bill
The NEPRA tariff only becomes useful when you can see it in rupees. Enter your units into our free electricity bill calculator and it applies the exact SRO 279 slab rates, the fixed charge, the current QTA credit and the taxes, protected or unprotected. Pick your company from the all-DISCOs hub and compare the printed rate against the schedule here. If a figure does not match, our protected vs unprotected and tariff slabs guides explain the mismatch.
These slabs and SRO 279 rates apply to residential connections. If you’re billing a shop, office or factory, the rate structure is different and mostly flat rather than slab-based — see our commercial and industrial tariff guide for the current rates.