Do You Know How Many People Consume Under 200 Units of Electricity in Pakistan?

ISLAMABAD – Federal Minister for Energy Owais Leghari announced significant reductions in electricity tariffs for both protected and non-protected consumers in recent months.

Speaking in a National Assembly session, he stated that electricity prices have fallen by as much as

58 percent for protected consumers, while others have seen relief ranging from 11 to 17 percent depending on their consumption slabs.

Leghari highlighted a substantial increase in the number of consumers using less than 200 units of electricity per month. “The number of electricity consumers using below 200 units per month has surged from 6 to 7 million to approximately 18.3 million in Pakistan,” he said.

Answering questions, the minister explained that nearly 18.5 million domestic users receive a subsidy of around 90% on consumption between 0 to 100 units, and those consuming between 100 to 200 units benefit from an estimated 70% subsidy. He also noted that changes in tariff slabs could affect billing by at least one unit.

He emphasized that over the last nine months, electricity prices for low-consumption users have been cut by up to 60%. “This reduction is part of a broader effort to ease the financial burden on households,” Leghari added, pointing out that tariffs including taxes have dropped from Rs. 48.7 to Rs. 38.4 per unit.

Regarding cross-subsidy collections from the industrial sector, the minister said these have been significantly reduced from Rs. 255 billion in June 2024 to Rs. 94 billion. “We have successfully reduced the burden of cross-subsidies without passing it onto domestic users,” he asserted.

Leghari also clarified that no special electricity tariff has been introduced for cryptocurrency-related activities. Currently, the system has a surplus of around 7,000 MW, with the national grid serving approximately 35 million users.

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