Tariffs
Electricity Tariff Slabs in Pakistan: How the Rate Actually Works
Cross a slab threshold and every unit in that month can be billed at the higher rate — not just the extra units. Here's why that matters.
On this page
How slab billing works in Pakistan
Pakistani domestic electricity is billed in slabs: the first block of units is charged at one rate, the next block at a higher rate, and so on. NEPRA sets these rates and they are identical across all eleven distribution companies. Your local company does not set them and cannot vary them.
There are two tables. Protected consumers — households staying at or under 200 units in a billing month — are billed on a substantially cheaper table. Everyone else is billed on the unprotected table.
| Units | Per unit |
|---|---|
| 1–100 | Rs 10.54 |
| 101–200 | Rs 13.01 |
| Units | Per unit |
|---|---|
| 1–100 | Rs 22.44 |
| 101–200 | Rs 28.91 |
| 201–300 | Rs 33.10 |
| 301–400 | Rs 36.46 |
| 401–500 | Rs 38.95 |
| 501–600 | Rs 40.22 |
| 601–700 | Rs 41.85 |
| 701+ | Rs 47.20 |
Representative rates compiled from publicly reported NEPRA notifications, and the same figures the site's calculator uses.
The 200-unit cliff
A single unit adds about Rs 3,291, because the entire month — including the first 200 units — moves onto the more expensive table. Fuel adjustment excluded, since it changes monthly.
Crossing 200 units re-prices the entire month
This is the single most important thing to understand about Pakistani electricity billing. Protected status is not a discount on your first 200 units — it is a status you hold for the whole month. Consume 201 units and the entire month is billed on the unprotected table, including the first 200.
The practical consequence is a step change rather than a gradual increase. Two extra units of consumption can move a bill by thousands of rupees, which is why households near the threshold often find a single hot week disproportionately expensive.
It also means that if you are consistently close to 200 units, small savings are worth far more than they look. Cutting from 210 to 195 units is not a 7% saving — it can move the whole month back onto the cheaper table.
What the slabs mean in rupees
These figures use the rates above with FPA set to zero, so they isolate the effect of slab position. Real bills add FPA on top, which varies month to month.
| Units | Energy charges | Total incl. tax & fixed | Effective per unit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | Rs 1,054 | Rs 1,368 | Rs 13.68 |
| 195 | Rs 2,290 | Rs 2,814 | Rs 14.43 |
| 210 | Rs 5,466 | Rs 6,530 | Rs 31.10 |
| 300 | Rs 8,445 | Rs 10,016 | Rs 33.39 |
| 500 | Rs 15,986 | Rs 18,839 | Rs 37.68 |
| 800 | Rs 28,913 | Rs 33,963 | Rs 42.45 |
Totals include GST at 17%, the Rs 35 PTV fee and roughly Rs 100 of meter rent and fixed charges. Compare the 195 and 210 rows — that gap is the protected-consumer cliff.
The final column is the number worth watching. Because slabs are progressive, the effective cost of each additional unit rises as you consume more — which is also what makes rooftop solar more attractive at higher consumption, since each unit displaced is worth more.
Categories beyond domestic
- Domestic (A-1)
- Households. The slab tables above apply. This is the category most bills fall under.
- Commercial (A-2)
- Shops and offices. Rates are generally higher than domestic and the slab structure differs. A domestic connection wrongly recorded as commercial is one of the more expensive billing errors.
- Industrial (B)
- Manufacturing, split by connected load. Often includes time-of-use metering and separate peak and off-peak rates.
- Agricultural (D)
- Tube-wells. Subject to its own tariff and to periodic federal and provincial subsidy decisions.
- Bulk supply (C)
- Apartment buildings and complexes billed through a single connection, then apportioned internally.
Check your tariff code
The code is printed in the consumer information block at the top of the bill. If it does not match your actual connection type, that is a correctable error worth raising at your sub-division office — and unlike FPA, it is genuinely disputable.
Questions about tariff slabs
Are slab rates different for each DISCO?
No. NEPRA determines domestic slab rates nationally and they are the same whether you are supplied by LESCO, QESCO or any other company. What differs between companies is service, not price.
How do I become a protected consumer?
There is no application. Protected status follows consumption: stay at or under 200 units in a billing month and the protected table applies to that month. Consistently low users whose bills show unprotected rates should raise it with their company.
If I use 250 units, am I charged the higher rate only on the last 50?
No — and this is the point that catches most people. Crossing 200 units moves the whole month onto the unprotected table, so all 250 units are re-priced, not just the 50 above the threshold.
Do slab rates change during the year?
Base slab rates are revised periodically by NEPRA rather than on a fixed schedule. FPA changes far more often, roughly monthly, and is applied separately on top of the slab rates.
Does the slab reset if my bill covers more than a month?
Slabs are applied per billing cycle. If a cycle runs long, the units accumulated in it are assessed together, which can push an otherwise moderate household over the threshold. It is worth checking the reading dates on a bill that looks unusually high.
Check your bill now
Related guides
- FPA Explained: Why Your Electricity Bill Changes Every Month
- How to Check Your Electricity Bill Online in Pakistan (2026)
- Understanding Your Electricity Bill: A Line-by-Line Breakdown