Power Minister Awais Ahmed Leghari on Sunday rejected reports from a section of the media alleging the government is planning to end electricity subsidies for protected consumers, maintaining “eligible” users will continue to receive financial support through a new QR code-based system.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he stressed that reports suggesting a looming end to subsidies were “contrary to the facts.” He explained that consumers using less than 200 units of electricity would continue to receive subsidies, noting the number of such consumers had now exceeded 20 million.
“Eligible consumers will continue to receive subsidies without interruption through the QR code system,” he said, while ruling out any further increase in taxes on electricity bills.
According to Leghari, the QR code-based system aimed to compile consumer data and ensure that subsidies reached truly deserving beneficiaries. He said the number of electricity subsidy beneficiaries had increased from 9.5 million to 21.5 million over the past four years, adding around 86% of total domestic consumers—around 29.57 million—were receiving subsidies.
The power minister maintained that, as part of ongoing reforms, renegotiation of agreements with independent power producers had resulted in savings of Rs. 3.5 trillion. Additionally, he claimed, reductions in distribution company losses had saved Rs. 193 billion while circular debt had declined by Rs. 780 billion during FY25. He also defended claims of several government ministers that electricity prices had decreased, maintaining the reforms were producing positive results and providing direct relief to consumers.
During his press conference, Leghari once again sought to negate the impression that the incumbent government was attempting to discourage solar uptake. He claimed authorities wanted to improve the transparency of the existing system, adding net metering continued while some billing procedures had been reformed.
“More than two million single-phase consumers have already completed registration,” he said, adding 90% of domestic consumers would not be affected by the revised net billing policy. He noted the government had abolished licensing requirements for solar projects of 25kW and below, adding regulatory approvals had been simplified for smaller projects.
To a question, the minister said disciplinary action had been taken against a Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) line superintendent in light of alleged corruption highlighted by Defense Minister Khawaja Asif. He said this reflected the government’s commitment to accountability.
“The tweet is a source of pride for us as we believe in self-accountability,” he claimed, adding strict action had been taken against the relevant line superintendent on Asif’s complaint.