• Lawmakers from both sides of aisle slam Nepra’s decision
• Warn new rules could slow down rooftop solar uptake
• Barrister Ali Zafar calls rollback ‘breach of state promise’
• Sherry terms decision ‘beyond understanding’
• Power minister says move aims to protect other consumers
ISLAMABAD: Senators from both the treasury and opposition benches on Tuesday opposed moves they said would discourage rooftop solar deployment in the country.
Speaking on a motion on the implications of the new Nepra (Prosumer) Regulations, which permit retrospective alteration of existing net-metering licences, they said citizens’ investment in clean energy was a public good and must be protected.
The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Monday drastically changed the terms of contracts for all existing and future net-metered solar consumers — known as prosumers — to contain rising solar penetration and protect an expensive and inefficient state-owned power network.
The notification effectively ended the existing net-metering regime and replaced it with net billing for all.
Under the revised policy, the buyback rate has been cut from Rs27 per unit to less than Rs10 per unit, raising concerns about its potential impact on renewable energy adoption and public confidence.
Speaking in the Senate, PTI Senator Syed Ali Zafar criticised the decision to withdraw net-metering benefits for solar consumers, calling it a breach of trust and a cruel act against the people of Pakistan.
Senator Zafar said a promise, once made, must be honoured, and when it came from the state, it became sacrosanct. He recalled that the government had assured citizens that if they invested in solar energy, they would be provided net metering on equitable terms.
The policy, he said, was presented not only as a personal financial benefit but as a national cause — reducing dependence on imported fuel, lowering energy costs and moving the country towards clean and sustainable energy.
He said the government had urged people to invest for their own benefit and for the future of Pakistan, while assuring that issues with independent power producers (IPPs) would be addressed as citizens shifted to self-generation.
Acting on this assurance, people across the country invested heavily in solar panels, he said. Families diverted life savings, sold assets and even took loans, which many were still repaying, to install solar systems.
Senator Zafar said solar energy was now present in nearly every household, commercial building and agricultural operation. Despite this, the government had turned around and sought to cancel its commitment retrospectively, he regretted and termed any retrospective withdrawal or imposition a grave injustice.
Addressing the claim that the decision rested with Nepra, supposedly an independent authority, Senator Zafar rejected the assertion, insisting that the regulator had acted on government directives. Any suggestion to the contrary, he said, was misleading.
“How can you do this to your country and citizens who are being affected the most by climate change?” she asked. She said the problem lay with the distribution system and questioned what message was being sent to investors by changing tariffs again and again.
Sherry questions tariff change
PPP Senator Sherry Rehman said Nepra’s decision was “beyond understanding”. She said the middle class was questioning why incentives were provided in the first place if they were to be withdrawn.
“You have made electricity bills an instrument through which various taxes are being imposed,” she said. She added that instead of setting up artificial intelligence centres like other countries, Pakistan was increasing power bills.
“Manufacturing companies and domestic consumers should be provided with cheap electricity,” she said, adding that major industries were leaving Pakistan due to heavy taxes and expensive energy.
JUI-F Senator Kamran Murtaza and PTI Senator Zeeshan Khanzada also spoke on similar lines.
However, Power Minister Awais Leghari on Monday defended the move, saying Nepra was within its remit and that it had been done to take the burden off consumers. “Changing regulations according to the law and the Constitution is a regulator’s job,” he said, adding that he would not step back.
Leghari defends decision
“This is not policy; there should be clarity on that,” he maintained. “This is a change in regulations, which was conducted according to the Constitution and Pakistan’s laws,” he said.
The minister added that seminars were held involving solar associations, consumers and other stakeholders, and that matters were settled with them last June.
“The Solar Association of Pakistan — whose bread and butter is installing and investing in these systems — conveyed to us that what the government was doing was not just necessary, but without it, public interests could not be saved,” he said.
Mr Leghari said the association had warned that up to 95 per cent of people would suffer “greater damages and increased burdens”.
“They said in June, don’t do this now, wait at least five or six months and carry out a proper transition,” he said. “Nepra, a regulator with the responsibility of maintaining its consumers’ interests, was formed to watch consumer interest and protect people from increases in electricity prices,” he said.
Referring to Senator Zafar’s comments on retrospective effects, he said there were none in the regulation.
“I am proud to say that in this regulation, our regulator did not reverse one clause on these contracts, which used to last seven years,” Mr Leghari said.
“Under Imran Niazi, electricity prices were touching the sky and we are trying to deal with it right now,” he said.
The minister said there were no 20-year contracts, adding: “It was a seven-year contract and until it expires, nobody in this country has dared to insert new terms and conditions in the contract. Nepra has not done this either.”
He said that out of more than 30 million consumers, 466,506 had net metering. “These 466,506 consumers have put 7,000 megawatts of electricity on net metering,” he said. “Other than these consumers, there are 30.04m who live in flats or slums, where they cannot install solar systems, or they cannot afford them.
“If Nepra allowed electricity to be bought at these rates, then the 30.04m consumers — who are the true public — would have to shoulder a Rs200bn burden left by net-metering consumers, which would increase to Rs550bn,” he added.
The minister said nothing would happen to the existing contracts of the 466,000 consumers and that the revised rules were for future consumers.
“What we are saying is that we will buy electricity from you based on the average rate of the grid,” he said, adding that consumer regulations were evolving.
“These are policies formed by innovative thinking which evolve with time, and these aren’t even policies, they are just regulations,” he said. “This is not the first time regulations have been changed, or rates have been revised.”
Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2026
