The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has approved a government proposal to reduce electricity tariffs by Rs1.71 per unit, citing a relief in the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL).

The reduction will apply to consumers nationwide, including those in Karachi, for the period from April to June 2025.

Following a consensus with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif earlier this month announced a reduction in power tariffs for domestic and industrial consumers by Rs7.41 and Rs7.69 per unit, respectively.

The decision has been forwarded to the federal government for formal implementation. However, Nepra confirmed that lifeline consumers will not benefit from the reduction.

The federal government filed a request for the price reduction with Nepra, which conducted a hearing on the matter on April 4.

“The Authority has no objection on the instant Motion, as it does not impact Nepra’s determined tariff, since the GOP [Government of Pakistan] has decided to provide additional subsidy from the expected collection of PDL,” read the Nepra’s decision, published on its website.

“Accordingly, the request of the Ministry [of Energy] to provide [an] additional subsidy of Rs.l.71/kWh to all consumers of XWDISCOs and K-Electric (except lifeline consumers) for the period from April 2025 to June 2025 is hereby approved,” the power regulator said in the notification.

The Nepra quoted the energy minister saying [during the April 4 hearing] that the projected collection of PDL for 3.5 months was around Rs58.6 billion — to be utilised to provide tariff differential subsidies for consumers.

“The federal cabinet has approved this proposal and allowed to file the motion before Nepra so that [the] benefit can be passed on to the consumers in the billing month of April 2025,” the Nepra document read.

For domestic consumers, the power tariff previously stood at Rs48.70 per unit, which had already been reduced to Rs45.05.

The new reduction of Rs7.41 per unit takes immediate effect. For industrial consumers, the June 2024 tariff of Rs58.50 per unit had been lowered to Rs48.19, with a further reduction of Rs7.69 per unit announced.