Federal Minister for Energy Awais Leghari has formally requested all provincial governments to abolish the electricity duty currently collected through monthly power bills, starting July 1, 2025 in a major move to reduce electricity prices and simplify billing.

In a letter addressed to all chief ministers, the energy minister urged provinces to cooperate with the federal government’s decision aimed at providing immediate relief to consumers. He emphasized that electricity duty is an unnecessary burden on citizens already struggling with high power tariffs.

“Excessive electricity rates have already become a burden for the public,” Leghari stated, adding, “It is our responsibility to simplify and make power bills more transparent for consumers.”

Leghari noted that efforts are underway to remove irrelevant charges from electricity bills, allowing consumers to only pay for the actual cost of electricity consumed. He further advised provincial governments to develop alternative mechanisms for revenue generation rather than relying on electricity bills for duty collection.

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“The federal government is implementing reforms aimed at reducing electricity prices, and provincial cooperation is crucial for this initiative to succeed,” Leghari added.

A day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the abolition of the Pakistan Television (PTV) license fee from electricity bills across the country.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the “Apna Meter, Apni Reading” mobile application in Islamabad, the prime minister had said the government was taking urgent steps to address the “four-pronged challenge” in the power sector, including electricity theft, low consumption, circular debt, and high production costs.

He said Rs500 billion worth of electricity was stolen annually, which remains one of the biggest challenges for the sector. “We have to control electricity theft at lightning speed,” he said, adding that efforts were underway and that he was personally monitoring the matter.

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Mr Sharif also acknowledged that electricity consumption currently remains lower than production. However, he said this was largely due to the rapid solarisation underway in the country, which he welcomed. “Solar energy is the cheapest source of electricity in the world and Pakistan is among the few countries where solarisation is happening at a fast pace,” he said.

He reassured that the government would not discourage solar panel usage and said the rights of electricity consumers would be protected during the reform process.

Sharif also said the government had reduced the price of electricity by Rs4.5 per unit following difficult negotiations with independent power producers (IPPs) and investors. He added that the falling international oil prices had further allowed a Rs7.5 per unit decrease in power tariffs.