NEPRA 2027 Tariff Hearing: How MEPCO Bills May Change
NEPRA heard MEPCO’s tariff petition on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, at 2:30 pm, as part of three days of hearings (13–15 October) for ten distribution companies. MEPCO put in a prior-year adjustment claim of 51,480 on its notice. Nothing on your bill changes yet — these hearings feed into the 2027 tariff determination, which NEPRA will issue and the federal government will notify in the coming months. October, November and December 2026 bills are not affected by any of this.
What actually happened
NEPRA scheduled tariff hearings for ten power companies across three afternoons at NEPRA Tower, Islamabad (also on Zoom), 13–15 October 2026. The published schedule:
| Company | Hearing date | Time | Prior-year claim on notice |
|---|---|---|---|
| PESCO (Peshawar) | Tue 13 Oct | 2:00 pm | 22,556 |
| TESCO (tribal areas) | Tue 13 Oct | 2:30 pm | 15,555 |
| QESCO (Quetta) | Tue 13 Oct | 3:00 pm | 17,818 |
| LESCO (Lahore) | Wed 14 Oct | 2:00 pm | 32,783 |
| MEPCO (Multan) | Wed 14 Oct | 2:30 pm | 51,480 |
| FESCO (Faisalabad) | Wed 14 Oct | 3:00 pm | 56,973 |
| GEPCO (Gujranwala) | Wed 14 Oct | 3:30 pm | 16,958 |
| IESCO (Islamabad) | Thu 15 Oct | 2:00 pm | 157,864 |
| HESCO (Hyderabad) | Thu 15 Oct | 2:30 pm | 7,019 |
| SEPCO (Sukkur) | Thu 15 Oct | 3:00 pm | 36,296 |
K-Electric was not in this round — its tariff runs on a separate determination.
One honesty note on the numbers: NEPRA’s notices print these claim figures without a unit. NEPRA’s tariff tables are normally in million rupees, which would put MEPCO’s claim around Rs51 billion — but the unit is not confirmed on the notices themselves, so treat the figure as indicative, not exact.
What a “prior year adjustment” means in plain words
A prior-year adjustment (PYA) is money the company says it was owed from earlier years but never recovered through bills. Think of it as a backlog the company wants added to the next tariff. It is a claim, not an approved amount. NEPRA hears it, tests it, and often cuts it down — the same way it cut CPPA’s Rs1.73 fuel demand to Rs1.11 for October bills.
What happens next
The sequence from here is fixed and slow:
- NEPRA issues its determination for each company after the hearings — this sets the allowed revenue and the tariff structure.
- The federal government notifies it through an SRO. Until that notification, nothing changes.
- The new tariff takes effect as the 2027 tariff, with the next annual rebasing expected around January 2027.
Monthly fuel adjustments and the quarterly adjustment keep running on their own track through all of this. The hearing outcome reshapes the base tariff — the slab rates and fixed charges — not the monthly add-ons.
What could actually change on your bill
Two things are genuinely in play for 2027:
- Slab rates. If NEPRA allows higher revenue than the current tariff recovers, per-unit rates move. If it trims the companies’ claims — as it did with the October fuel adjustment — the movement is smaller. Nobody outside NEPRA knows the final numbers yet, and anyone quoting 2027 rates today is guessing.
- Fixed charges. The per-kW fixed charge (Rs275–675 for unprotected homes, depending on slab) is already under a review petition at NEPRA. The hearings are where that argument gets tested. Our bill calculator breaks down exactly how much of your current bill is fixed charge versus units — worth checking before 2027, because this is the line most likely to move.
What will not change through this process: the protected/unprotected 200-unit rule itself, lifeline definitions, and the exemption lists. Those are policy decisions, not tariff math.
What to watch — and when
- NEPRA’s determination for MEPCO (no fixed date; typically weeks after hearings).
- The federal government’s SRO notifying the 2027 tariff.
- January 2027 rebasing — the expected start of the new tariff year.
We will update this page when the determination lands. Until then, your October–December 2026 bills run on the current notified tariff plus the monthly and quarterly adjustments already announced.
Frequently asked questions
Will my bill go up in January 2027?
Probably, but by how much is unknown. The companies asked for more revenue; NEPRA’s history is to approve less than asked. Wait for the determination, not the claims.
Does the hearing affect my October or November 2026 bill?
No. Those bills run on the current tariff. The Rs1.11 October fuel charge and the 52-paisa quarterly adjustment are separate, already-notified decisions.
What is the difference between this and the fuel adjustment?
Fuel adjustments pass through monthly generation-cost changes. This tariff process sets the underlying rates — slabs and fixed charges — for the whole year.
Where can I read MEPCO’s actual petition?
NEPRA publishes hearing notices and petitions on nepra.org.pk. The Zoom link and meeting ID for each company’s slot were printed on its notice.
Sources: NEPRA hearing notices for the 13–15 October 2026 tariff hearings, as compiled by PakEra; background on the tariff process from NEPRA’s published determinations.
