ISLAMABAD — The government has decided to scrap the electricity slab rules that punish households for crossing 200 units a month, Power Minister Awais Leghari told the Senate on Tuesday, framing the move as electricity bill relief for consumers hit by a sharp jump in rates and a long lockout from subsidy.
Under the present system, monthly use of up to 200 units puts a connection in the “protected” category, with a subsidy of about Rs13 per unit. One extra unit can push the charge to as much as Rs33 per unit, and the household then stays out of the protected facility for six months. Leghari said work to abolish that arrangement was being sped up, and that subsidy should go only to those who deserve it.
Why crossing 200 units hurts so much
PML-N Senator Abid Sher Ali had moved a calling-attention notice on distribution company tariffs and the burden on consumers. He told the House that when use rose from 200 to 201 units, the tariff jumped from Rs15 to Rs30 per unit, so a household effectively paid under the higher 400-unit slab for a single extra unit. “The cruel slab system effectively punished the poor and drained the common man for months,” he said.
Leghari called that a genuine problem and said the ministry was seriously working to end the six-month bar. He also pointed to how solar systems have changed who claims protection: the number of protected consumers rose from 10 million to between 20 and 25 million over the last two years. Some users of 700 to 800 units were keeping grid draw at 200 units with panels and still taking relief meant for lower-income homes. The government is giving a 65 per cent subsidy to protected consumers that rich and poor alike can claim, he said, adding it would not be appropriate to give the same discount to everyone below 200 units.
What happens next on subsidy design
Two paths are under study for electricity bill relief: raising the protected threshold from 200 to 250 units, or dropping the six-month penalty so a household can regain protected benefit in any month it keeps use at or below 200 units. “It will take one and a half months to finalise the plan,” Leghari said. Officials are also designing a new electricity bill relief scheme tied to income rather than consumption, limited to people below the poverty line and lower-middle income groups.
On sector finances, Leghari said circular debt had fallen to about Rs1.67 trillion and was no longer rising every year. The government aims to clear it within four years under a financing reprofiling plan, and to abolish the Rs3.23 per unit debt servicing surcharge in that period. He recalled that when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took office in 2024, annual distribution company losses from theft and non-recovery were Rs591 billion; those losses had fallen from Rs360 billion last year to Rs325 billion this year. Budget support for the Power Division was Rs1.18 trillion in 2024 and is expected to drop to Rs700–750 billion this year—about Rs200 billion less pressure on the budget—though savings have not yet been passed through to consumers because the finance ministry, not bill-payers, has carried company losses. Stopping theft remains the top priority, he said, without arbitrarily loading costs onto consumers.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- 2024: When Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took office, annual Disco losses including theft and non-recovery stood at Rs591 billion; Power Division budget support that year was Rs1.18 trillion.
- Last two years: Protected consumers rose from 10 million to 20–25 million, which Leghari linked in part to solar use keeping grid draw at or below 200 units.
- Tuesday (Senate): Leghari said the government had decided to scrap the slab that punishes crossing the 200-unit line and to target subsidy at those who need it.
- Next ~1.5 months: Final choice between a 250-unit threshold and ending the six-month protected-category bar.
- Next four years: Target to eliminate about Rs1.67 trillion in circular debt and remove the Rs3.23 per unit debt servicing surcharge.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Hakumat ne kaha hai ke 200 unit se ek unit zyada hone par jo sakhti aur chheh mahine ki saza lagti hai, woh khatam ki jayegi. Ab bill aksar Rs15 se Rs30–33 per unit tak ja sakta hai, is liye gharana mahino tak mehnga bill bharta hai. Naya plan lagbhag dedh mahine mein final hoga, aur subsidy baad mein income ke hisab se milne ka irada hai. Aam mustahiq gharanon ke liye yeh bijli bill relief ka raasta kholne wali khabar hai, lekin naya rate abhi tafseel se announce nahi hua.
