Electricity
How load shedding is decided in Pakistan
Hours are set per feeder rather than per city, and they follow how much of that feeder's power is actually paid for. This page is built from NEPRA's published figures — it explains the mechanism rather than printing a timetable nobody can verify.
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How load shedding is actually decided in Pakistan
Load shedding is applied by feeder, not by city. A feeder is the line running out of a grid station to a few thousand connections. Each one carries its own record: how much power went into it, how much was billed, and how much was collected. That record is what decides how many hours it gets.
Feeders with high losses and weak recovery are cut back hardest. Feeders where nearly all the power is paid for are often exempt entirely. This is why two neighbourhoods in the same city sit on different schedules — and why "how many hours of load shedding in Lahore" has no single correct answer. Across all distribution companies, losses averaged 17.6% in FY 2024-25.
We do not publish a timetable here
No organisation in Pakistan publishes a reliable, feeder-level schedule that updates daily. Sites showing you a "today's schedule" table are generally reproducing stale or guessed information. The only dependable source for your own feeder is your company's helpline or sub-division office.
Which companies lose the most electricity
Because hours are tied to losses and recovery, those two figures are the best available guide to how heavy load management is likely to be in a given area. These are NEPRA's own published numbers, lowest losses first.
| Company | Based in | T&D losses | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|
| IESCO | Islamabad | 8.61% | 101.0% |
| FESCO | Faisalabad | 9.02% | 101.0% |
| GEPCO | Gujranwala | 10.60% | 101.5% |
| LESCO | Lahore | 13.70% | 101.3% |
| MEPCO | Multan | 13.81% | 101.7% |
| KE | Karachi | 14.73% | 90.6% |
| HESCO | Hyderabad | 27.89% | 74.8% |
| PESCO | Peshawar | 37.15% | 91.5% |
| QESCO | Quetta | 38.38% | 38.7% |
| SEPCO | Sukkur | 39.18% | 74.2% |
| HAZECO | Abbottabad | not published | not published |
| TESCO | Peshawar (erstwhile FATA) | not published | not published |
HAZECO and TESCO do not appear in NEPRA's comparative tables, so no figures exist for them. Recovery above 100% reflects payment of old arrears on top of current billing, not overcharging.
Why your neighbour has power and you do not
Because you are probably on different feeders. Two sides of one road can sit on separate lines, and the one with better recovery gets better hours. Hospitals, airports and some industrial feeders are permanently exempt, which is why parts of a city never seem to be affected at all.
If the outage was not announced, it is usually a fault rather than load shedding — a transformer, a fuse or a line problem. The two are logged differently, so when you call it matters whether you say the whole street is dark or only your house.
Gas load shedding is a separate winter problem
Gas interruption works on a different principle. When winter demand rises, SNGPL and SSGC apply gas load management: domestic users are generally prioritised around cooking hours, while CNG stations and industry are curtailed first. It is usually felt as low pressure rather than as a complete cut-off, which is why a stove that lights but will not heat is the more common winter complaint.
How to complain about load shedding
- 1
Work out whether it is scheduled or a fault
If the whole area is off at a predictable time, it is load management. If only your house or a handful of homes are off, it is a fault. They take different routes, and saying the wrong one wastes the call.
- 2
Log it on the helpline
118 for the distribution companies; K-Electric consumers use K-Electric's own channel. Take a complaint number — that is what turns a phone call into a record.
- 3
Escalate to CCMS, then NEPRA
Each stage expects the one before it to have been tried, so a complaint that jumps straight to the regulator is usually referred back down.
Frequently asked questions
What is today's load shedding schedule in my area?
There is no central source for it. Schedules are set per feeder and change without notice. Call your company's helpline — 118 for most — and quote your reference number, which is what identifies your feeder. Any site showing a single citywide timetable is reproducing information it cannot verify.
What does bijli load shedding mean?
The same thing. Bijli is the Urdu word for electricity, so "bijli load shedding" and "electricity load shedding" describe the identical practice — planned interruption of supply when demand exceeds what the network can serve, applied feeder by feeder.
What is the difference between load shedding and a power fault?
Load shedding is planned, announced, and affects a whole feeder. A fault is unplanned and usually limited to a few homes or one transformer. It matters when you complain, because the two go to different departments.
Does paying my bill on time reduce load shedding?
Not individually, but collectively yes. Hours are decided on a whole feeder's recovery rather than any one household's. A feeder where theft and non-payment are low gets better hours than one where they are high.
Can solar panels avoid load shedding?
Only with a battery. A standard on-grid system shuts down the moment the supply goes off, for the safety of anyone working on the line. Running through an outage needs a hybrid inverter and storage.
Sources
- [1]Performance Evaluation Report FY 2024-25 — Distribution Companies — NEPRA, accessed 26 August 2026
Last verified: 26 August 2026