NEPRA (National Electric Power Regulatory Authority)
Definition. NEPRA is Pakistan's independent electricity regulator, responsible for determining tariffs, licensing generation and distribution, setting consumer service standards, and hearing complaints against distribution companies.
Also called: The regulator · National Electric Power Regulatory Authority
Where you see it: Referenced in the tariff notification your bill is calculated under, and in the complaint escalation notice printed on many bills.
What it determines
Each DISCO's revenue requirement, the resulting tariff schedules, the monthly fuel adjustment, the quarterly adjustments, and the consumer service manual that sets the rules for connections, meters, billing and disconnection.
Its determinations are published, and the tariff notifications behind every rate on your bill are public documents.
The complaint jurisdiction
NEPRA hears complaints about a distribution company's conduct — refusal to act, unreasonable delay, breach of the service manual, wrongful disconnection.
It is not the first stop. A complaint that has not been put to the DISCO first will usually be sent back. Exhaust the sub-divisional and divisional levels, keep the written record, then escalate.
Where the Electric Inspector fits instead
Disputes about metering accuracy and about the quantum of an assessment sit with the Provincial Electric Inspector under the Electricity Act, not with NEPRA.
Sending a detection-bill dispute to the regulator and a service-standards complaint to the Inspector is the most common procedural mistake consumers make, and it costs months.
Frequently asked questions
Can NEPRA reduce my bill?
It can direct a DISCO to correct a bill raised in breach of the rules. It will not reduce a correctly calculated bill, because the rates in it are ones NEPRA itself determined.
Are NEPRA hearings open to consumers?
Yes. Tariff and fuel adjustment hearings are public, notices are published in advance, and written comments are accepted.
Related terms
- DISCO — What a distribution company is responsible for, which of the eleven serves your address, and where its authority ends and NEPRA's begins.
- Electric Inspector — The forum most Pakistani consumers have never heard of, what it can decide that NEPRA cannot, and how to file there.
- Fuel price adjustment — The mechanics behind the FPA line: who files it, the two-month lag, why it sometimes goes negative, and why your local office cannot change it.
- PITC — The organisation behind the duplicate bill portal, what it does and does not control, and why an outage there affects every DISCO at once.
Go further
Back to the full 44-term glossary, or open your own bill with the reference number lookup.