ISLAMABAD, October 29, 2025 — The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has imposed penalties exceeding Rs110 million on four state-run power distribution companies (Discos) for failing to meet performance benchmarks related to system losses, bill recoveries and pole earthing standards.
According to five separate determinations issued on Tuesday, the regulator fined Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) Rs10 million, Quetta Electric Supply Company (Qesco) Rs40m, Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) Rs10m and Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) Rs51m on two counts after completion of legal proceedings, including show-cause notices and fact-finding probes.
The companies reported that reduction in consumption was generally because of higher electricity rates following reduction in subsidies, removal of special incentive packages, and de-industrialisation.https://t.co/ELHqqDLjML
— Dawn Business (@dawn_business) October 29, 2025
Nepra initiated the proceedings after reviewing Circular Debt Reports indicating a 1 per cent reduction in total electricity purchases by Discos during FY2024 — down to 115,142 gigawatt hours (GWh) from 116,696 GWh in FY2023. The reports also showed that overall distribution losses rose to 18.31pc in FY24 from 16.84pc a year earlier, exceeding the regulator’s target of 11.77pc by 6.54pc.
“This breach of target contributed around Rs276 billion to the circular debt for FY2024, despite Discos being allowed Rs163.1bn in investment funding to improve their networks,” Nepra said.
While Discos attributed the reduction in power consumption to higher electricity tariffs, withdrawal of subsidies and industrial slowdown leading to increased solar adoption, Nepra noted their weak justification for failing to curb technical and commercial losses.
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Hesco was fined Rs10m for repeatedly submitting misleading statements to the regulator over an 18-month period, while Gepco faced an additional Rs100,000 penalty for inadequate grounding of low- and high-tension poles.
Qesco, Fesco and Gepco were also penalised for failing to reduce transmission and distribution losses and improve bill recoveries, despite receiving tariff-based funding to strengthen infrastructure.
The regulator said the fines were intended to reinforce accountability and ensure that public utilities meet operational and financial performance standards set to reduce the recurring buildup of circular debt.
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