Pakistan government introduces Bijli Sahulat Package, reduced electricity tariff for winter

Pakistan government has announced the ‘Bijli Sahulat Package,’ a temporary initiative providing reduced tariffs for consumers during the winter season from December 2024 to February 2025.

According to the energy ministry, the package will offer up to PKR 26/unit relief to domestic, PKR 22.7/unit commercial and PKR 15.05/unit relief for industrial sector.

With electricity demand dropping significantly during winter months, the package aims to encourage higher consumption by offering discounted rates on additional electricity usage, especially beneficial for households and industries alike, the ministry noted.

The Bijli Sahulat Package introduces a flat rate of PKR 26.07/unit for electricity consumed above each consumer’s historical usage benchmark for domestic, commercial and industrial consumers.

By comparison, standard rates can range significantly higher across various consumer categories, with domestic users typically paying between PKR 37.49 and PKR 52.07/unit.

This reduction in cost is expected to ease financial burdens on consumers and incentivize industries to increase production during the low-demand winter period.

Industries, a critical focus of the package, stand to benefit from an estimated 18-37% reduction on incremental electricity costs.

Meanwhile, commercial establishments also enjoy savings between 34 to 47% on incremental power consumption.

Under this package, domestic consumers could see reductions ranging from 30 to 50% for incremental electricity usage beyond the established benchmarks.

The determination of each consumer’s base usage benchmark relies on a weighted calculation of electricity consumption over the last three fiscal years, prioritizing recent consumption with weights of 50% for fiscal year 2024, 30% for 2023, and 20% for 2022.

However, there’s a cap on benefits, as the discounted rate will only apply to incremental usage up to 25% above the benchmark. Any additional usage beyond that threshold will be billed at the normal rate, as per the government’s notification.