The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority has published the operative notification for its semi-annual review of the Incremental Consumption Package. The revised figure applies only to eligible incremental units and remains provisional pending a comprehensive reassessment.
The operative notification and its effect
NEPRA notified its 6 November 2026 decision through S.R.O. 2100(I)/2026 dated 12 November 2026, under section 31(7) of the Regulation of Generation, Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power Act, 1997. The notified decision includes the members’ dissent, an additional note and the Chairman’s casting vote. It is now a notified decision, rather than an unnotified determination awaiting gazette action.
The majority approved a revision to Rs 25.30 per kWh from the former Rs 22.98 per kWh for eligible incremental consumption from the November 2026 billing month. The new rate is expressly provisional and remains subject to a further decision following the required comprehensive review.
Who falls within the package?
The Incremental Consumption Package was approved in December 2025 for eligible industrial and private agricultural consumers served by ex-WAPDA distribution companies and K-Electric, including qualifying time-of-use and non-time-of-use categories. The incentive applies to qualifying incremental use over the scheme’s prescribed reference consumption; it is not a universal flat electricity tariff for every unit billed.
Businesses should verify their customer classification, eligibility, historical baseline, billed incremental units and applicable tariff adjustments against the original package and the new notified decision rather than assume the revised figure applies across their entire account.
Why the provisional increase?
The Authority’s decision records concern that the existing tariff may not cover the actual marginal cost of serving additional load in changing fuel-market conditions. The Ministry of Energy proposed Rs 25.30 based on updated fuel-price assumptions, but the record did not contain a complete, validated assessment of actual incremental marginal cost.
The majority determined that a provisional rate was preferable to continuing the old figure without adjustment. Crucially, it did not treat Rs 25.30 as a final finding of marginal supply cost for historical months. It rejected reopening the substantially completed October 2026 billing cycle and applied the provisional rate prospectively from November.
What happens to November bills and the continuing review?
If November 2026 bills had already been issued before notification, the decision contemplates adjustment in a subsequent billing month. Eligible consumers should retain copies of relevant bills, interval or meter data and benchmark calculations. Contractual pass-through clauses and operating budgets using the previous Rs 22.98 rate may need review.
NEPRA did not suspend the package. The underlying decision directs the Ministry of Energy to supply data and analysis for the comprehensive semi-annual review on specified timelines. Those submissions and a further Authority decision will determine whether the current provisional arrangement continues or changes.
Dissent and potential disputes
Members Amina Ahmed and Maqsood Anwar Khan dissented from the approach adopted by the majority, expressing concern over the reliability of the Rs 25.30 figure and whether the scheme should continue pending adequate cost verification. These views form part of the published record but do not replace the operative majority decision.
The notification expressly states that concerned entities, including the Central Power Purchasing Agency Guarantee Limited, must comply with applicable court orders notwithstanding NEPRA’s decision. Any specific dispute over billing, effective date, eligibility or a court order requires examination of that consumer’s facts and the actual tariff instructions.
Practical implications and official source
Industrial and agricultural consumers should reconcile the November billing rate and unit classification, document any later adjustment, and monitor the forthcoming comprehensive review. Distribution companies and billing teams should ensure the notified provisional rate is implemented subject to applicable court orders. Finance teams should distinguish a provisional notified rate from a final cost determination.
Primary source: NEPRA Notification S.R.O. 2100(I)/2026 (12 November 2026), with decision and dissent (PDF). See also the Regulatory Intelligence archive for related developments.